Ishmael

I shudder to go back to sleep

For I have escaped once

Would I be so lucky again?

No, I will remain

Cast away on my island of consciousness

Landlocked far from Ishmael

The creature of my darkest depths.

I am his white whale.

Sleep, his endless basin to swim.

Delighted by a manatee with dead eyes

A foolish sailor obeys the siren's song

Drawn closer by ethereal cuteness

We are morsels to an angler's lantern

It is only when the truth is revealed

That terror begets sinking feeling

Filling the curious sloop with dread waters.

Ishmael claws and rips at our planks

Gnashing his teeth hungrily

While still the manatee smiles

Beckoning us to play with him

Deep within my most unsettling dreams

-Brian

This is a dream I had 6 years ago and the picture I drew upon waking. It was terrifying. Part great white shark, part lobster, part deep sea angler fish, part siren, part manatee, and he was larger than a whale.