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.