Great (China) White

Great (China) White

It started in schools.
Tiger and Mako drew me in,
‘I thought you were cool?’
‘don’t be a dolphin,’ they grinned,
dagger-toothed and cunning.
I agreed, I’d tried a bit
of sea weed,
how bad could this be?

I did it. Thrashing and screaming
at first, but it gets easier
the more you rehearse.
Clothes were ripped,
fabric and belts wrapped
around my fins, veins pop
and needle-sharp points force
their way through skin.

It tastes gum-numbingly bitter
but the feelings better,
the surge of power
that scours the brain
heightening every synapse
as it swims from the veins.
Rich red blood vessels
Widen and swell.

With the release
muscles relax, great white
hot euphoria flows.
I sank to the abyss, below.
Pilot fish led me
to sunken ships
where I’d lay, starfished,
jaws shaking, gills flapping.

I’m chasing the man
in a frenzy for more,
lurking round boats or
beaches and shores.
I’m hooked now,
I’ve been reeled in
by a taste for more
of this human addiction.