/\

my triumph rises out of the ocean

on the tip of my melting iceberg

 

peaking through Prussian blue crashing waves

  and alabaster spume.

 

buoyed along the coast of the arctic

all joy drifts out to sea, freezing.

 

\    / 

  \/

my trauma drags me below

drowning under the ash-grey sky

 

thunderstorms wake me at night

lightning flashes replaying the scene

 

screams sink into my dreams

shaking and sweating while i shriek

 

my trauma anchors me to polar shores

as i lay in a heap shivering on the floor

 

escaping the introspection stalking my sleep

i sink six Valium pills in a glass of Jameson

 

dissolving on the icy rocks

as i drift into drowsy submission

 

passing out cold in fetal position

unjarred as the bell rings -

                            it is finished.