Written piece
Drown, Sink, Float, Swim.
Lucy Iwuagwu
Nigeria
About this piece
My friend saw my potential and urged me to enter the Commonwealth Quilt competition. My poem, "My Thread," shares a message of overcoming the fears that limit our dreams. By supporting one another, we truly become braver and stronger together.
I conditioned myself to drown,
before I learned how to swim.
Down into the pool where,
my ambitions dimmed.
Lies a story of a girl,
who folded her towering hopes
like heavy winter coats.
Now, sealed in a box, she labeled
“Unreachable.”
Through a kaleidoscope I see,
a chaotic world,
yet, still beautiful.
I'm a poetic psychic;
I write storms before they begin.
Teaching others to outswim high tides,
yet, unable to face mine.
I was taught to stitch broken things,
to be kind,
to dream outside the lines.
A tailored map I needed to succeed.
Even though, gravity reminds us what rises, eventually... learns to fall.
Therefore, like a sail boat,
I had to learn how to float.
Learning the patterns of the waves,
breaking the current,
cutting loose ends,
stitching the holes,
creating new knots
to strengthen my boat.
I feared the unknown.
What if I sank like the Titanic ship?
What if I see where the sea monsters sleep?
I had to stop being afraid of
the “what ifs-”
Heavy waves splash against my face.
“I’m drowning!” Echoes of my screams.
Feels like anchor chains are sewn to my legs.
Trying to escape,
I’m running out of breath.
“You got this...Keep moving forward...”
A voice... cheering me onwards.
Breathe in...breathe out.
One arm rising... while the other falls,
I’m lifted by the water.
My head rises above the sea.
Swimming feels like sewing,
torn pieces of me,
back together with invisible thread.
I didn’t have to do it all alone.
With friends from different streams.
We mend each other piece by piece,
turning fragments,
our stories, into everlasting fabric.
Fear can't sink me,
now that I can swim.