Decompression Sickness

Beneath, the body sinks, skin pressed  

by weightless dark. Fins flick and fold.                             scatter.

Bubbles swell,                  shiver,                              scatter.  

The regulator hisses, holds,                                                                    scatter.

a breath pulled from the void.  

Water whispers, a hum over bone.  

Fingers brush cold,                     slick rock,  

grains of salt sliding between nails,  

currents curling like a slow exhale.  

Muffled thuds echo from the deep—  

                                                                                                                              a pulse, 

                                                                                                                              a thrum. 

Blood thickens,

veins tighten like wire.

A pulse stutters, 

                              falters,

as nitrogen knots in muscle,

turning sinew to lead.

gasping,

desperate,

Bubbles climb, 

toward a surface that isn’t there—

they pop like distant snaps of bone,

sharp, 

cracking the quiet.

Humbles

Katelynn Humbles is an emerging visual artist rooted in rural Dutch Pennsylvania. Her poetry, featured in the Appelley 2024 Rising Stars Collection, explores the delicate balance between self-identity and love for those around us. She is pursuing her Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing at Kutztown University. You can reach her on social media at @katelynnhumbles_006, or via email at katelynnhumbles@gmail.com.

Suzannah Kolbeck writes and paints in Baltimore, Maryland. Her work focuses on a declamation of the ordinary that highlights moments of time that we might normally miss – for better or worse. Suzannah’s poetry has appeared in Plainsongs, Pomme Journal, and 50 Haikus, and she is the author of Build a Better Bond: 100 Ways to Connect With Your Horse, Healing Where You Are: An Introduction to Urban Foraging, and The Food Market: At Home. Suzannah is working on two books on urban homesteading and building an off-grid cabin in the woods, one room at a time.