Tidal Wave

This tidal wave
Comes crashing through 
My barefoot self
Standing on a shore
In a world
Where I have never lived

I am not ready
To fight through the surf
To claw my way up
Through the oncoming waves

So I let go

Let the water consume me
I do not fight to rise 
I do not fight to breathe
I feel my life slipping away
As the water fills my lungs

And then I remember
What I have been fighting for
And I swim
Up through the waves
Coughing up water
Fighting to breathe

I am stronger than 
This tidal wave.