Profit-less Swimming

Life's oceans span the horizon - a world of water.
All around us water churns.
People everywhere,
flailing limbs,
struggles of heads bettering waves.
Oh precious breath.

Resilient, some swimmers last long.
Many though, do not.

The strong of body with the hardness of head,
Some set out, focused on fixed destinations,
believing hallucinations of far off Terra Firma.
Many follow in their wake.

The unscrupulous leap atop of others
Unwelcome rides,
dispatch victims to premature abysses.

Others tread water,
focus on self;
breathing and moving,
breathing and moving.
energy conserving,
maintaining buoyancy.
Maintain protocol.

Still yet, many slip silently
into the darkness of the deep,
some resigned,
many more struggling,
clawing, lungs bursting for air.
Consumed by currents unseen.
Consumed by tugs that overwhelm.
Reservoirs of strength and determination,
overtime insufficient, or all dried up.

Now and again a surge of strength
an assault on the atmosphere.
Choking lungs engorge on sweet air.
Enough for a little more, a little longer.
But more often than not
- quiet inevitability.

The oddities are those that swim for others.
When one tires or flounders
a righting,
a supporting hand hold,
a rescue,
a breathe of air to water filled lungs.
Energy expended,
self-less expression.
Profit-less swimming

Strong, weak, swimmers for another cause.
Sacrifice, struggles, pains - energy, sweet energy.
They care.
They swim with others.
They swim for others.
They care for their neighbor.
They care for the stranger.
They care for the good.
They care for what they can do.
Help! Help the drowning,
knowing well, one day
they themselves will ...

But the inevitable can't be changed;
except for today,
for the one they save.
And that makes a difference.
It changes fates.
It changes them.
Stronger they become.

Not of arms and legs
but of heart,
of friends,
and of self.
And when the inevitable finally comes
that's what will have made all the difference.