Diorama

lidless eyes glitter
with joie de vivre
long-jawed saurians 
pleased with 
the warm young 
world everybody 
smiling biting 
down teeth like 
a bed of nails 
a fish swallows 
a fish a spikier 
fish looks on 
the quiet one 
starting to notice 
we’re swimming 
in murder soup
some crocodile types 
grow feet climb out 
onto the islands 
who is there to eat up here
a sea serpent 
breaches no wait 
just head and neck 
of something 
caught in the jaws 
of something else 
mid-air pterodactyls 
clatter their beaks
a long long tentacle 
unfurls tugs 
one down 
manic thrashing 
in the shallows
the drifting squid 
calm expressionless
in it for the long haul.

Published in Menacing Hedge