Quicksand

It felt like an ocean passed me by

It waved goodbye, hello, goodbye — say hello to the riptide

I woke up on a mountaintop

Terrified that this torrential rain would never stop

I crashed the party like a waterfall

But every time that I look up, I never cease to feel so small

I think I’m sinking where I stand

Calling out, grasping for your hand

I don’t expect you to understand

How it feels to be swimming in quicksand

I thought my feet were on solid ground

But every step that I took forward took me further down

Do I need to freeze and just hold still?

Time is killing me and now I’ve got some time to kill

But if I can’t move, I will never be free

And it seemed like I had somewhere else to be

I think I’m sinking where I stand

Calling out, grasping for your hand

I don’t expect you to understand

How it feels to be swimming in quicksand

Until a passing stranger took a fallen stick

And extended out the end until the sand was not so quick

I thanked the kind stranger, she turned to me and said

“The only real danger was inside your head.”

So I brushed myself off, looked up and she had disappeared

Like the one who saved my life was never really here

I thought I was sinking where I stand

Calling out, grasping for your hand

I didn’t think anyone would understand

How it feels to be swimming in quicksand

© 2021 Zach Sands, PhD