I Am An Anglerfish

I am an anglerfish, down and under the sea and as of late

Food has become meaningless if I have to take lives to satiate

Here in this dark cold world no fish dream of what’s in store

Making it all so easier to snatch their sentiences evermore

Is it right to live a devious and deceitful life that lures

Innocent prey with my lamp rudely dishonest and impure

For once can I make friends in this lonely place I must endure

Writhing withering wilting when we want them, I am sure

I am an anglerfish, bony features, ghoulish face of the abyss

Rows of teeth engineered by nature to give Death’s sweet kiss

Yet here I falter, halt sir--Fear? Yes, I exalt Her

She appears amiss for me when, to my stomach, prey I transfer

I think of the uselessness of my teeth and lamps with utmost fright

I cannot take the lives of these fish who go down without a fight

But if I don’t eat I die so therefore I must bite

The souls of these fish in my belly all feels not quite right

Here’s a fish. Here it comes. My guilt still here, despite

To my delight, its curiosity locked tight

Disturbed by my light, bright in its sight

Preparing to bite, preparing to smite

It preparing for flight, which would hurt my appetite

Panic I must not incite, jagged cones of calcite

Closing in as if in a cave of stalactites and stalagmites

Dead as the dark of night, terror like an ominous blight

An imagined scenario where I savagely ravage this poor fish on site

Fear here She comes, as usual with no invite

She tells me not to take a life, guilt She ignites

She’s a beautiful maiden, seducing me, I must follow and be polite

So my lamp brightens fast, and in a burst of light

Scares my prey with a big flash, a tornado of white

Ghastly scared for a moment, it sees my face outright

Zips away like a bullet, filling my heart with contrite

And now here I am, on this experience: I will write

I am an anglerfish, born to kill, lives for food my birthright

Yet all this troubles my morality and finally comes to light

As I spend my final days, starving alone to death

I wish for a life where I do not need to eat possible friends--

to fill the emptiness and loneliness in my heart, with my dying breath.

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