Drowning in a Bucket of Words

I may never escape my fate.  
I have fallen  
and must drown,    
a shadow in a bucket of words--    
but I have always known this    
and so my sadness grows cosy    
until even the roses seem happy    
to remind me of life's thorns.    
   
Every day they float to the top,    
ragged pearls pretending wisdom    
words bursting around me    
bobbing free to tickle my chin    
nuzzling the tips of ears.    
   
To stay alive,  
I must help them escape    
although that act itself defeats my own purpose.    
Somehow I claw them into air,  
polish a deluge of memories    
before I choke and my head slips    
down...    
   
New phrases conspire as I sleep    
whispering to me in secret    
with tempting combinations    
to overpower and tire,    
each one eager to feast    
ready to gorge on time's blood    
their victory ever certain    
a pack of cocksure dogs gleefully chasing a cat    
and n'ere a tree in sight.    
   
In my waking hours they refuse to stop    
so I must kick to stay afloat    
toes curled tightly,  
I hug my knees and scream...    
   
Once,    
when I was foolish enough to dream of my own escape    
when I still had strength to be bold,    
I summoned a giant's breath    
diving down for the bottom of the bucket    
until my lungs burned to explode.    
   
But there was    
no bottom to reach    
only letters    
mocking me in silence    
streaming slowly from tiny bubbles    
forming themselves    
into words.    
   
Perhaps one day    
you may stumble upon my death    
find my bloated belly    
grinning at the sky where it rests    
the price of freedom    
at last awash with words