Breathe

The winds are harsh and spray is cold, and you are deafened
Between the crash of the waves and the silence between.
Waiting for that one ship in the night to realize
It needs you to lead it back to a rocky shore safely;
Like a weathered lighthouse, you stand,
Your beam sweeping across a dark and turbulent sea.

When all you want to do is get on your hands and knees,
And pray to an unspecified god that logic prevails,
Against fear and emotion and desperation,
And doesn’t get crushed beneath the weight of inertia;
Your head whispers “it will all work out” but the voice quakes
While your heart begs “please” into the suffocating silence.

You close your eyes and try to still your fears.
You whisper “here” into the darkness
Hoping he hears above the storm
And finds his way home to you;
Wanting to help him steer
When all you can do is breathe.