Coral Reef

Blot this glassy water
With clotted blood;
Dive down, screaming;
Wish upon a starfish;
Stretch my gills and make them lungs;
Make me man, not manta;
Wipe the seaweed from my lips;
Save me, tangled, from your coral.

I have never seen the coral reefs,
Yet I am certain
It is a barrier, 
Cuts the flesh of drowning sailors,
And is as deadly pretty
As a woman’s hair.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2016

Poem

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