In the River's Mouth, Part 2

Breaching the water's surface
Choked for air
I began to replenish the ocean with my very own tears

I allowed the tiny drops of my soul to flow without fear
A gratefulness remaining within me, considering the rest was spared

Blurry-eyed, but still seeing
I noticed impressions of now-strangers' feet sprinkled along the nearby shore

For a moment, I almost felt a loneliness at the absence of people to match them with
But then I questioned how I could long for connections that lacked permanence before

Within seconds, their existence would be washed away
Set adrift, on a trip to the sea floor where I had previously resided

I lingered in the water for a little bit longer
Trying to decide whether I'd swim to shore in an attempt to find their owners

As if to tell me I had taken too long, The waves effortlessly shoved me further out from land, the opportunity gone

An internal fight with my desire to be accepted erupted within
Who, on this planet, is everyone's friend?

I allowed the tension to be wrung from my stiff, aching body as the current swept me away
My broken and bruised limbs now bleeding shame

Cursed with a heart painful and swollen from too much caring
I closed my eyes

And in the slightest exhale
I asked to be granted a newborn start with the early death of my old self