The Chain

On the beach lies a chain
Made of large and thick metal links,
it extends into the water slapping at the shore.
The chains are, at first, clean and smooth,
making it somewhat easy to grip.

Tugging on the chain proves useless
for it does not give way
it must be grounded to something solid

Hand over hand
I begin to follow it into the tide.
The links were easy to grip,
but are becoming slimy and slippery.
I could go back to the shore,
but I wonder where this chain will go.

The waves crash around my head,
jolting my body this way and that,
but the chain does not budge.
As long as I can hold onto the chain,
I will not be swept away.

The ocean floor has disappeared
from beneath my feet
I continue to pull myself along the chain.
I cannot see yet where it ends,
or where it will travel to get there.

I can see the large waves approaching,
and I am certain there are more beyond those,
the waves almost continuously beat against me.

There are times when the waters are still.
Then the creatures come close to the surface.
They swim around discreetly,
I feel like their prey.
They nip at me,
frighten me,
but can never wholly consume me
as long as I hold on to the chain.

I can’t quite conceive what would happen,
if I were to let go.
And I cannot follow the chain back to the shore.
The end of the chain seems to have followed me,
almost as if I hadn’t pulled myself along at all.

I feel tired,
and I am a great distance away from that sandy beach,
I must have done it myself.
How else could I get this far?

Onward I haul,
fighting with waves,
attempting to ignore my fear of the creatures.
Onward I move
further into the sea,
to discover where this chain has chosen it’s ending.