Awash

When we
get to the end
we likely won’t even notice.

We have been waiting
for so long we have forgotten
that tides often come in

slowly. If you do not
pay attention you will
find yourself far from shore

on a rock awash in danger
and it will be done
before you recognize it.

This swamp
will become lagoon and then
open ocean so gently

that we will see it
only when we are
almost drowned. 

We expect a tsunami 
but it will be erosion
that drags us fatally down.

In the end we will not only
not see it coming, we will not admit
we are in fact gone.

In fact,
let us say it:
we are in fact gone. Notice

how hard it has become
to breathe. Notice how cold
and dense the world has become.