Just Treading Water Poem by Pearl L Johns

Just treading water,
Is what I want to answer when they say
How is your day going?
How are you today?

I used to swim with the dolphins
We would swim all day and play.
Laughing, playing, just having fun.
Really didn’t know any other way.

Those days are gone now.
It’s harder to keep my head afloat.
Sometimes I just feel like sinking.
And just slide under the boat.

No longer do I swim so strongly
The tide just pulls me back in.
Always fighting against the tide,
Wondering who will win.

So if I pass you on the street today,
And you say, “How are you today? ”
You now know that I am just treading water.
Hoping to keep my life from going astray.