Anchor Poem by Shannon Namdre

I am strong.
A true beauty.
Not something you desire.
But something you admire.
Look how sturdy she is!
She will keep us safe.

No one wants me until I am needed.
Out to sea we go.
Storms up ahead!
Lower the anchor!
She is strong
And will keep us steady.
I am lowered into the turbulent water.
Sputtering and pleading...

Please, I can't.
I am scared.
I need to breathe.
But my pleas go unheard
Because they need me.
I am drowning.

Please! Please! Pull me back up.
I need the safety of the boat, too.
But no one hears the anchor.
Why would they?
I drown and no one notices.
But I did my job.
They are safe.
And I am a hardened piece of iron
Sitting at the bottom of the sea.

They pull me up after the storm in done.
No one notices my lifeless body.
I am an anchor and nothing more.
I have no dreams or hopes any more
They all drowned with me.

I am only a heap of metal.
Cold and lifeless.
No one notices.
They never knew I was alive.
Dead by their hands.
They just assume this is how I always was.

I used to be the sails.
Full and flowing.
But I got taken down.
They needed an anchor....
So that's what I became.
Lifeless and drowning in the sea
to keep them safe and steady.