Content Warning: mental health

Pam Yve Simon – Seahorses, or, How I Am Trying to Hold On

Seahorses are part of the genus

Hippocampus.

The genus with the same name

as the part of your brain

that handles memory.

Like me, seahorses are poor swimmers.

I remember that seahorses

must hold on to something

to stay grounded.

I try to think of things that are grounded:

trees to the earth, streetlights to the asphalt,

headstones to the grave.

Things that are ephemeral distract me:

kites dancing in the breeze, crickets singing in the grass,

lightning striking in the field.

I am trying to reshape my memory.

I am digging

until I hit solid ground.

I want you to know:

I am safe.

I am still here,

like a seahorse

holding on.