Drowning in a Bucket of Words

I may never escape my fate.    
I have fallen  
and must drown,    
a shadow in a bucket of words--  
but I have always known this    
and so my sadness grows cosy    
until even the roses seem happy    
to remind me of life's thorns.  
   
Every day they float to the top,    
ragged pearls pretending wisdom  
words bursting around me    
bobbing free to tickle my chin  
nuzzling the tips of ears.  
   
To stay alive,  
I must help them escape  
although that act itself defeats my own purpose.  
Somehow I claw them into air,  
polish a deluge of memories  
before I choke and my head slips    
down...  
   
New phrases conspire as I sleep  
whispering to me in secret    
with tempting combinations  
to overpower and tire,  
each one eager to feast  
ready to gorge on time's blood  
their victory ever certain  
a pack of cocksure dogs gleefully chasing cats  
and n'ere a tree in sight.  
   
In my waking hours they refuse to stop    
so I must kick to stay afloat  
toes curled tightly,  
I hug my knees and scream...  
   
Once,    
when I was foolish enough to dream of my own escape  
when I still had strength to be bold,  
I summoned a giant's breath  
diving down for the bottom of the bucket  
until my lungs burned to explode.  
   
But there was    
no bottom  
to reach  
only letters    
mocking me in silence  
streaming slowly from tiny bubbles  
forming themselves    
into words.  
   
Perhaps one day  
you may stumble upon my death  
find my bloated belly    
grinning at the sky where it rests  
the price for freedom    
at last awash with words.