I

the sea will give you no respite

the waves laugh at your sodden plight

your muffled cries a hidden plea

in ocean’s deadly melody

a deathly rhythm, throbbing fear

your thrashing heart at Ceto’s leer



But you are not counted with the dead

the Fates have not yet cut your thread

your fingers grapple at the waves

and pull you up from azure graves

because you must learn to drown

before

you can swim


II

the wrath of the storm will not be abated

like Icarus you have been fated

a piece of flotsam in the sky

whose screams are lost in wind’s lone cry

Oh falling bird, who clipped your wing?

who called the funeral bells to ring?




But your thread doesn’t dangle in the clouds

Oh Fates discard your funeral shrouds!

your wings will find the instinct hidden

and save you when they were not bidden

because you must learn to fall

before

you can fly




III

black demons sneak up from behind

and shadows claw at your tortured mind

and in these dreams of fateful things

the resonance of evil sings

you see the death that waits so near

a patient beast, fed on fear

But as you lie in silent pain

a single moment proves you sane

you sit up in your window bed

look around, cradle your head

and you see the glinting shards of light

shattered on the sky at night

you give an ear to the tumult of cries

that echo as the forest sighs

and the waiting beast will not think to look

in the shadows that it just forsook

because you must learn to die

before
you can live