[Trilby]

People who kill themselves are not looking for attention. People who make suicidal gestures (a superficial scratch on the arm, a non-lethal Rx dose with a call to 911, etc.) are sometimes looking for attention, sometimes doing a dry-run and sometimes just so down they need to let those around them know just how sick they are but don't have the words for it.


Not Waving but drowning:


Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

Oh no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.

Stevie Smith