In just four lines, this short poem sets up a feeling of being overwhelmed. The first image is of wings passing over water, something free and light, while the speaker says "I am drowning" below. That contrast matters: the movement above seems to belong to a world the speaker can't reach, and the speaker is stuck in the water, in trouble.
The second stanza shifts to sound. A "dark city" has a noise, and the speaker compares it to "night breaking into rain." The simile makes the city's hum feel heavy and sudden, like a storm starting. It also links back to water, so the city's noise becomes another thing pouring over the speaker. The title, "Lake effect," hints at weather shaped by a body of water, and the poem blurs the lines between lake, rain and city.
The mood is dark, hushed and a little anxious. Drowning could be literal, but judging by the imagery it may also describe being swamped by emotion or by the world's noise. The poem doesn't say which, and that openness is part of its pull.