Reef Castaways
Where life’s numb oceans and the unplumbed sea
Of death share boundaris, two words (as marks)
Lurk underneath the waves where speechlessly
Their syllables are symbolized by sharks’
Mouths swimming through dark meanings as in caves.
Much larger than slight underwater isles,
These words are more like continents–or graves.
They lure us, though, like victims charmed by wiles
Of sirens singing fate down in the deep.
A scarlet-colored coral grief grows there
Where eels and claws of lamentation creep
Among these sounds and leave a trace of hair.
Although a gulf divides them, black Never
Accords Atlantis-like with slack Forever.