Don't drown in it, they said

The complex idea of conformity

The self indulgence of the waves

Those that wash your being away with the rest of what evolves us

into what we call the world. 

We spin in retrograde

Trying to follow the steps that are buried below what we left behind,

Only to find the juxtaposition of our before and after.

We seek forgiveness from what we used to know

And strength from what we become,

But nothing compares to the need we have to be one's own.

To be or not to be.

To yearn and scream and shout and wait 

For someone to come to the rescue,

But hear nothing but silence

While we drown in what they said not to.

To feel the pressure overwhelm us,

Like the water fills our lungs,

And as we wait to run out of air,

We think back to what they said.

Don't drown in it, they said,

But we did.