Bittersweet Victory

[Josiah Jacobus-Parker]

Bittersweet Victory

We bet him five dollars

That he would drown.

The lake was green and dark

As if the mountains were great organs

Leaking bile into their valleys.

The weeds were high

Trailing their tendrils on the tepid surface

We bet him five dollars

That he would drown

As the mosquito larvae festered

In the shallows

And the pond skimmers tracked across the surface

Of the algae polluted water.

We bet him five dollars

That he would drown

As he took a running start

And dove beneath the surface

And we laughed and cajoled

And waited as the bubbles

Trickled their way to the surface.

We bet him five dollars

That he would drown...

A bittersweet victory.

-----------------------------------------

Well that was morbid.

[blue]

:? :( Yes it was. Evocative use of words to give imagery, but...morbid. Yeesh.