Not waving but drowning

Not waving but drowning.

I finally got round to watching The Queen's Gambit (late to the party as usual) and was struck by the poem Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith.

'Nobody heard him, the dead man,

But still he lay moaning:

I was much further out than you thought

And not waving but drowning.'

So many people are drowning in despair at the moment and it can be easy to see a wave as a greeting rather than a call for help, especially when we are lost in our own thoughts and challenges.

So next time someone tells you, "I'm fine", maybe take a minute to look under the surface. Sometimes people just need to be seen and heard and know there is help out there.