At the the bottom of the sea
Where the sand is black and the water
Is murky, but bright with neon jellyfish and starry squids
The water presses onto your chest and your breaths are confined
In your ribs, a cage, filling with bubbles that can't pop, won't stop blowing
Hands push on the walls of your ears and the gravity is gone
You can't push out your tears, you must face the anglerfish alone
Their lightbulbs droning over your head, taunting you, hauntingly
The snapping turtles pull you down like demons that can't drown
But know that you can
The seaweed wraps around your ankles like chains and
Try to strangle you, entangle you in pain
And you want to call out to the ships you see floating miles above your head
Their wails hushed by the rushing waves and the weeds
Shrimps and snails and sea cucumbers and things crawl below you
Like you are not there, like you are a balloon they cannot see
You can feel the eels' soft gazes as the hazy waters slaughter your lungs
You want to be done, but you know that
Seaweed is just plants
Anglerfish are just light-up aquatic skins with hearts and teeth
You can rip the dark green from your feet
Your fingers clench the strings and you pull
Their leaves quiver and their stems shiver and soon their sandy roots
Let go of the weak earth below
And the fish, the eels, the stingers all around you
Trying to drown you, they cannot hurt you
Anglerfish dangle their lights before you and you yank them from their heads
The eels try to strangle you, wrap around your wrists and your neck but you rip them away
The jellyfish float towards you like boats but they are too slow,
You are paddling, pushing through the black mist,
Covered in kisses from deadly fishes and hopes and wishes
You can see the sun outlining each wave with golden, the surface just a thin membrane
To break, and your aches will stop, your wishes will be granted
You reach a waterlogged hand above the waves and you are free
You feel the sun already drying you and you are so thankful for trying
The shore is only a mile away
It seems like you could cup the sun in your pruny fingers and sip it
Your dreams are finally true
All because you didn't give up.
