#hbsdghs

A mermaid circled by a ring of jellyfish,
light dotting the water as if a prism shattered
on the waves. I can nearly reach her.

Soot-smudges for eyes, but she senses me--
around her neck, my heart on a string,
a leather pocket in suspended breath.

I inhale water, exhale black ink.

And when her mouth opens, it reveals
a whirlpool, a black hole, a vacuumed riptide--
water pulling away from me in all directions.

I reach out to touch her, and she is gone.

Waking in the middle of a desert, slate rock
beneath my knees as I look up, blinded by the sun,
tentacles draped over my shoulders.

There may be nothing for miles and miles,
but I have survived drowning at the bottom of a trench,
and I am here to tell you about it.