A fight in the dark

Rowing in your tiny nutshell
with a paddle made of doubt,
as the water rises higher
you're too slow to bail it out

The brittle woodwork you are steering
gets knocked over by the waves
every night the fight continues
extending even to the days

To you sleep is now a stranger
since the waves keep you awake,
all alone you try to hang on
while your brittle boards do break

And the ocean with its darkness
swallows whole what you have been
as you're dragged down by the current
not a sign of you is seen.