I can do no right
for doing wrong
and it does me no favours
to see the words come
back and bite me
with nibbling teeth,
drooling with spittle
foamed sarcasm
and the odd knee to the groin
verbal jibe.
How much simpler for the sharks
to swim and attack
at the same time,
false cartilage protruding and hitting
me in the ribs, softening me up
in a minute or two, making
me tender, making me scared
and tired, before ultimately
going in for the kill, tearing me limb from bloody limb;
so much easier to die at the razor sharp teeth
of the inhuman shark,
than the flapping gums
of a half intrigued goldfish.
Ian D. Hall 2016