Released Poem by Martin Moore

Sweating palms
late hour
southbound, yearned for
I struggle two steps more

sink to trembling knees
in water black as coal
sense the dark mud squeeze
upon my very soul

twenty days or more
traversing this morass
mosquito-ridden gore
tongues as sharp as glass

flesh ripped to shreds
blood has oozed beyond
the threshold of the dead
seeped into this pond

black piranha wait
to gorge on weakened flesh
appetites to sate
vicious teeth enmesh
the bones of humankind
the heart of every man
roaming senseless, blind
eyes uncovered can

opened ever wide
view this watery grave
break the chain that binds
releasing you, a slave.