A Seat Below Me

-A Seat Below Me-
by Keaton Foster


A ship
Sinks
Life
Does slip
Beneath
The waves
Into
The depths
A seat
Below me
A passenger
Screams
He’s afraid
His life
Will end
Before mine
And I must watch
A front row view
Set askew
Realization
Settles in
Like stone
I’m next
The death
Of him
Will user in
The demise of me
A seat
Below me
The show
Is going on
The actors
Not actors
Such theatrics
Are indeed
Quite real
Death
Is as ugly as sin
By the grace of God
No one should see it
But here I am
Best damn view
Front row center
The captain
Of this boat
Ran into
A mountain
Of stone
In the middle
Of all
That was known
His maps
Lied
His compass
Wonky
His sense
Of direction
And mortality
Trashed
He was lost
But wouldn’t
Admit it
So here we are
Sinking
In the sea
As he
And his men
No doubt flee
Saving
Their own skin
Oh the tale
I’m sure they’ll tell
I wonder if it
Will include me
Be comprised
Of all this
A seat
Below me
A being of life
Has just died
And down I go
Towards my own
Imposed fate
I cannot swim
I cannot escape
Trapped
In this way
I’m pinned
By the fear
Of what’s next
And not
What’s left
Frozen
I cannot move
My lungs
Fill quick
No longer
Do my screams
Ring out
I am silent
The water
Rapidly
Becomes deep
And before long
Any light
From above
Is all gone
Down into
The depths
Many of us go
This pleasure cruise
Becomes our tomb
We are lost
To the sea
Lost to life
And all that it means
To have been alive
Tragic they’ll say
But none of us
The passengers
Will be around
To hear it
We are deceased
Down
In the darkness
Below the waves
In our liquid graves
In our final place
Freed of our lives
Because of another’s
Unwillingness to admit
That he had no idea
Where he was going
Or what he could hit…


A Seat Below Me
Written by Keaton Foster Copyright © 2015.