Standing Down

I feel the dirt around my roots thinning, a flood of trickling water

washing away my protection, as I stand, exposed against a wall of white

I watch the wooden boat float away from my docking, its frayed rope

trailing, sinking in water, adrift, my hands stinging from the burn

You are walking away from me, toward an unknown horizon, growing

more distant as I squint toward the light,

while it is I... who diminish