My journey took me
Across the sea
In a merchant ship
Bearing exotic spices

I chose this vessel
Because it was the only one
That would cross the deep waters
Off the dull grey coast

My pilgrimage would be shortened
Almost an entire week
Simply by taking this route
And not pathing around

All of the present crew
Had sailed these waters before
But by the fourth day or so
I noticed many of them were uneasy

They moved strangely about the ship
Staying closer to the center
As if trying to avoid
Gazing out at the water

Curiosity getting the better of me
I walked up to the wooden railing
And peered over the edge
Into the deep waters

To my surpise it was crystal clear
And I could see straight through
The refracted sunlight
Dancing on the ocean floor

Then something caught my eye
Deep sunken blocks
Covered in algae
That must not have been natural

Sailing on I noticed these blocks
Forming walls and broken structures
Sitting solemn and untouched
Beneath the crystal waves

We passed a large trench
Amd after we did
I saw what must have been
An ancient city on the ocean bed

Great towers and minarets
Rose from the ocean floor
Even the streets and houses
Where visable from the surface

My attention turned to a courtyard
Or at least what I thought to be one
That sat directly in the center
Of that long sunken place

And in the center of that courtyard
Was a strange sort of obelisk
Upon further investigation
I saw something chained to it

Passing over the city
I could hardly make out the thing
That I saw chained to the pillar
But I thought to myself

That it must have been a person
Imprisoned there some millenia ago
What catastrophe they committed
Was anyone's guess

Nothing now remained of them
But algae encrusted bones
Their jaw broken and mangled
Inhabited by tentacled creatures

Straining to see the figure
Before we were beyond it
I though I saw the  skeleton move
Twisting its head in my direction

With a gaping twisted jaw
Did the old bones speak
Though I was not sure
If anyone else could hear it

I shook my head and rubbed my eyes
To get rid of the feeling
Left in me by its words
After I did I looked back in astonishment

The waters we sailed over
Were now murky and green
Nothing like the clear waters
I had seen only moments before

I asked one of the sailors
If we had steered off course
Or if the water changed
In this part of the sea

He promptly replied no
Saying we were right on course
And the water was always murky
In the Turn-Tide sea