I close my eyes:
Blood trickles down my childhood memories,
Torn flesh rips my innocence apart,
Thick grey skin smothers my future,
And the eyes…black beady eyes glaring at me,

Daring me, whispering to me
Come in the water. Get your revenge.
I won’t hurt you. You hurt me,
I force the words away,
Pushing them, forcing them out,

You know you want to,
The blood drowns my heart,
I can’t breathe! My lungs spurt red,
Metallic death pools in my mouth,
I want to be sick, I can’t be.

My body jolts. Head snaps to the right,
I hear the crunch, the breaking snap of my bones,
The waves break. But the teeth don’t,
They squeeze my wrist, stealing my hand,
Blood captures my vision,
The water explodes in red,
Murkiness is around me…
And grey skin…black eyes…one fin.

My eyes burst open. Just like my artery did,
There’s no grey skin or black eyes,
Only blood seeping down my right hand,
My only hand. The other?
The ocean stole it. The shark stole it.

I can’t bear to look at the stump that remains,
So I close my eyes and the whole memory repeats
Once again.