Fathoms

Depths of the heart sunken below the tides,
far beneath the tarnished sky,
out of reach from the ravages in polluted soil
while dwelling in crystalline domes,
so hoping to submerge the beasts inside.

But you can’t drown the mind under waves,
eventually the utopian lusts of this sea oasis
slipped into a stale climate,
it is never enough to watch the waters and fish
and let them gently nudge the spirit
into imaging swimming among their realm.

What claws within breathes its own hunger
suddenly there is the dread of claustrophobia,
then comes the insanity of panic,
until you can’t bear the walls surrounding,
completely desperate to touch the earth.

And then the others watch
from that haven of glass
as another desperate life
opens the portal to the ocean
to rise upward to the imagine freedom.

It is merciful if the sharks attack
even if they run out of air
before reaching the top.

For if they survive to tread upon that surface
one has to face the brutal reality of its hostility,
at least until one gasp too many
brings enough poison into the body to end the misery.