Drowning

What of the helpless
Breathlessly they wait
Suffocating and going under
Their faces reflected in the windows
Of all things beyond their means
Their unseen hearts haunted
With the hunger of hopelessness
They are somebody somewhere
Belonging to humanity
Ever how much we try
To ignore and disrespect
Life is a trick to them
That wanting thing that drives them
Even as they struggle to suffer
They are caught in the drowning
A frightful mirage that is
Merely existing
Poised on the border between
Alive and have not
They drown as we watch
From behind the handkerchief
Held so tightly over our noses
It hides the stench of disregard
While we murmur reassurances
To ourselves in our drunken stupor
That will never be us
Can never be us
Yet they are
Us