Apologue

I saw someone stuck and alone
Trapped by life like quicksand or a pit of tar
I dove in without thinking
I wanted to help
I wanted to be helped

I didn’t know what I was doing
I struggled and strained
I made things worse
I despaired
I felt happy to not be dying alone

At times I gave up
Resigned to not make it worse
At times I strove to make it better
To get us free
Never fully giving up

Eventually I learned the pit for what it is
Eventually I found ways to push us free
She got free and I was glad
She ran to feel her legs unbound
She didn’t look back to see if I got free

The empty space left where she was,
Filled with a thick rush of despair,
It pulled me back down,
I still feel the slight freedoms I’d found,
Pressed back into me by the mass

Ive felt the yearning for freedom from our trap
I’ve known since I first saw her how badly she needed to be free
I was glad to see her liberation
But why can’t I run aside her
Why am I left behind

So now I stay
Unable to move for fear of sinking deeper
Hoping she’d come back for me
Hoping someone else comes along
But maybe I’d rather be left here, and not risk pulling someone else in with me.