Abyss

Jeanie Sanders

February 22, 2021

He is in a boat surrounded by ocean

without a rudder of self protection.

The Sun reflects off his bald head

ringed by his dyed hair.  His face

is red from effort and his orange 

makeup streams down onto his

expensive suit.  

He is busy throwing people overboard.

Sharks gather for every offering.

They bump the boat in their eagerness

to tear apart another victim.

Blood covers the vast unnamed ocean.

The sharks stir it up splattering it

onto the crazed man where it covers 

his eyes and mouth as he heaves and throws.

Water sloshes in the bottom of the boat,

ringing the monster who mercilessly lifts

another human sending them into the 

hurricane of jaws.  This crimson man  

is an automaton of greed and evil.  Blood circles

lips and finds its way down his throat.

There is no stopping the routine of bend, grab, and fling.

He can’t see his reflection nor smell anything

but a personal miasma of fear.  The ocean outside 

enters the boat and builds as though it were 

a skyscraper rising in increments.  A lifetime

of egomania chains the man in place

like Marley’s ghost.  

The boat becomes flooded capsizes and descends.

Bubbles float to the surface containing 

last words of self love while time 

becomes flat as the ocean.   

Jeanie Sanders is a poet living in Lytle, Texas. Her poems have been published in The Texas Observer, San Antonio Express News, Texas Poetry Calendar, and other anthologies. Her self-published collection of poetry and photography is titled The Book of the Dead. She also served as editor for the Texas Poetry Calendar 2021.