The room was burning
The ship was sinking
      I had to get out
I took a dive
Out the window
      Into the water
Grab for anything
Keep me from drowning
      My hand grabbed hold

. . . oh . . .
. . . damn . . .
I shouldn't have grabbed hold of that.

Now I'm out
      pulled out of the water by eager arms
and smothered
By someone who has waited a long time

      -an eternity
for this.

She doesn't quite understand.
It all fits so perfectly in her mind
It all works so well
She doesn't know why I hesitate
Why my mood changes
I've come to realize why:
I grabbed too soon.
I leaped, I dove, I escaped
I tried to find anything to pull myself up

      -to pull myself away
From the flames tormenting me
Flames of love, lust and repression.
So I managed to get away
But in doing so, fell away
From the rationality
that had previously guided me.

I misjudged my step forward,
My necessary progress
I overcompensated.
The flames are rising again
The panic, the urgency
What the hell do I do?
I'm a hamster inside a burning building
Running around in circles
Until I exhaust myself
And let the flames take me.

Limited options
None of them pleasant
No easy way out
Dammit, not again.