Go jump in the lake, October 11, 2016

An altercation with an unseen assailant
pushed me into a body of water I’d rather avoid

Terrified of water, I swam
Where I don’t know the shore disappeared
as soon as I got wet

Fearing that I would die
I kept moving so I would not succumb to hypothermia
It is cold, the water is not warm
I keep moving

Wondering?? I wonder,
“How does a black woman turn blue?”
I kicked something hard
Seeing a wing of a plane I blacked out

Waking in a living room
Three children play in the same room as their mother
who greets me as an old friend.

Bravely, the eldest child interacts with me
in a conversation I can’t recall
She was sweet, she was concerned, she fell

Crying, I had the child get up
I looked at her arm, an angry red starting to swell
she moved her hand independent of the bones

Yelling to the mom that she needed a hospital
I felt my confusion and disorientation mounting
Were we on an island? IS there a hospital close by?

Discussing the options calmed me
I had somehow made it to the mainland
The child needed an aspirin but she was allergic

Noticing the elder woman in a chair
she came in to focus. Sleeping like a cat
in on over the edge of a chair
Limber for a grandma

Dumping the contents of a jewel filled glass
the mother asked me to find the smallest gems
surrounded by costume glass
They fell up my sleeves as I raised my hands

Focusing on the task at hand
I calmed in the simple action of
sorting large from small
lavender pink jewels

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