Aquarium Dreams Poem by Ted Sheridan

Dreamland was about to become very nightmarish
In as much as the car in which we all were riding
Exceeded the careful demands of a sharp and winding curve
Thereby breaching the protective guardrail and plunging off the cliff
One hundred and fifty feet into the deep dark waters
Below
I survived the ordeal only to see the others drowning
With their eyes bulging as so many innocent guppies
About to be devoured by some ancient creature of the deep
The water’s pressure crushing their precious little lungs
And each releasing their final and last breath before descending
Deeper
But you being a cold blooded amphibious creature
All scaly like a fish and with a powerful reptilian tongue
Reached out for me from the cold water beneath my feet
And placing a firm and debilitating grasp on both my legs you pulled me
Undertow
A heavier handed metaphor than I’d ever before
Imagined