it’s like
a pirate is
forcing me
to walk one
of two planks:

at the bottom
of the first a
shark waits with
gleaming teeth
the taste of blood
already in its mouth

while a leap off
the other would
entail filling the
entrails of a giant
fucking squid.

(perched upon
such a precarious
position, i pray the
pirate will suddenly die
leaving me free
to sail away.)