A Nightmare of a Tub

I start the bath but only dip my toe in

I am afraid of a change in the tide 

As skeletal fish do swim against my thigh

As I slowly find myself sinking of my own design

I am ill equipped to master the art of being breathless

Cast into the abyss with a thousand jellyfish kisses

Tormented by the suckers of an octopus

Trying to hold it in, trying not to cause a fuss

One day in the edge of my tub

I see the plug that would spare me thus,

And try as I may, as with all my might,

I am willfully soulfully trying to fight,

The current is sucking me down and back again,

So that I'm tossed and turned and hardly know where to begin,

Urchins are stabbing slowly into my skin,

I'm bleeding out a fog about the bath as I'm drownin'

This is all so inconsistent,

Left toe pulled free of the drink,

I am satisfied and dry,

The wash room is emptied and as I stand their bare,

The sounds of the silence echo in my ear,

As nighttime serenades of ambient noises are all I can hear,

So I look into my blood-free bath,

And I wonder what it was that made me feel so afraid,

Of the creatures that weren't that that never laid

Siege to my extremities,

And never came close to puncturing the inner me,

Somewhere in my soul I know,

It was all just a dream,

But the reflex memory will not let me stay clean.