SURVIVAL
after "Immersion" by S. Griffin

Phillis Gershator


I

So you're afraid
of what lurks beneath a circling fin
I am too though I've never
seen the movie Jaws
or read the book
whichever came first
cartilage or teeth
I think about sharks
and your heart pulling you down
into the deepest shark
infested dream waters
saved in the nick of time
by the dawn
and I think about the sharks
that killed two brothers
in the Caribbean
for the bloody fish they caught
or their shiny knives
young men following their hearts' desire—
the deepest water
the biggest fish

II

So you're afraid of the water?
Slow to jump in?
Is it the loss of control,
the weightlessness;
is it the unending expanse
or the unexpected tides;
is it the certainty
that your lungs will give out
if you give in?

The water is so dark at night,
deceptively blue in the morning,
pink and grey when the sun sets

Quick change is suspect
like radical conversions
and magic tricks
No wonder you hesitate
to trust your life
to a reflecting surface

III

Navigating uncharted waters
in your sleep
following the deepest dream
your heart speeds up
slows down
you wake in shock
gasping for air
a beached sea creature
on dry land


The dream was real
but, thank God, it wasn't
No one had to press and blow
life back into you
or bury you at sea
or lose you altogether
presumed eaten

The fear was real but, no,
the waves do not have teeth
What does it mean
all those fears
those dreams?
It's a lifetime occupation
reflecting on fact and fiction
whichever came first
in the mirror
window
sea

IV

The cure for shark fear:
Exchange roles
Circle the table and take a bite
Shark meat is delicious
You'll never feel the same
about your nemesis
when it's a part of you,
your own blood and bone

The peoples of New Guinea
know these basic facts
And the Indians

You embody a new spirit
Your teeth grow sharper
You reek of elemental waters

Streamlined, swift,
sensitive to the scent of blood,
you are at home now and confident
in the sacrificial sea




Copyright © by Phillis Gershator