Writer's Block

A metaphor poem that I wrote recently as a homework assignment. (I'm in college now) I really enjoy this one, especially since I wrote it on the fly.

 deep under water,
a locked closet,
I choke to find the words

I sputter out new utterances
nothing quite works
I can't find my tongue to make it work

my head pounds
I can't find the right substance
to fill my lungs

I kick, I gasp,
to no avail do I breathe
as I try to break the surface of epiphany

soon my throat closes
in an iron vice
and I black out

I never give up
but it is something else
that must pull me to the surface
and bring back the words
I've been trying to find all along,
my own personal lifeguard