Aquarium

Dim tunnels curve a segmented ocean.
Bat-winged feeding specters
browse glass. Scaly hulls
blow, rainbow skimmers
flick and shimmer.

A child’s sweet nose pressed
against a face so horrible,
bubbles of fear pop
in my brain.

Above us, jellyfish swim,
dendritic minds dangling.
tentacles of electric awareness.

Sharks circle waiting to be fed.
shark lovers, perhaps fantasying
swimming in and out
of bloody teeth.

It’s a movie - we gawp and admire,
shiver and savor
between margins of beauty
and grotesque gulping’s.

Red and blue squadrons
of directional floor arrows,
lead us out into the light -
a place that some believe
is a safer landscape.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2021

Poem

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