Blackened seas
Littered with the carcasses of broken dreams
Hexes whispering through the tides
To claw their way to eroded shore lines

They beckon me
Offering a petri dish of magical things
Of cursed jewels and mermaids tears
And shells sculpted from childish fears

How they sing!
Songs of wonder and all of the things that they have seen
Of widows flinging into their arms
And sailors falling for their shipwreck charms

I dive in deep
For the call is too enticing to contravene
Its glacial fingers caress my form
I suddenly wish for them to be warm

It burns to breathe
How is it that they've abruptly lost their gentility
They're hands are rough and none too kind
Is this what I had so hoped to find?

Their love is bleak
I feel nothing as I sink into eternal sleep
In their benthic zone hides untimely ghosts
Fallen for the same ingenious hoax.