Floating (revised)

Every syllable from your mouth
Trickles off me like water
I sprint through the downpour
Dodge lightning
Sidestep through hail
When your words thicken to a lake
I paddle to the surface
Struggle against the current
And try not to swallow your words
When they coerce their way through my lips
I spit them out
With more force than I would spit out toxin
I try to float
Suspended weightlessly on top of letters, sounds, and words
I lay on my back with my arms open
Letting the consonants and vowels sprinkle on me
And collect in your ocean
Conscious of sinking and inhaling
Aware of the darkness
Mindful of the meaning below me
Below the words I float upon
But for now I choose to remain ignorant
Of what lies beneath your abyssal lecture
Scared to death I might drown
So for now I float