a seal bit me in my dream,
lunging out of the water and
clamping down on my foot.
I was at a middle school friend’s parent’s house
I had never been to before in real life
out in the country.
we met for lunch under the cozy shelter,
sat on pillows on the floor
and watched exorbitant numbers of cats roam, mill, and play.
I turned to have some food, already disappearing
from memory as I saw it,
and by the time I turned back,
the cat sanctuary turned into an ocean,
and my nemesis got me.

fright sparkled in my chest like fireworks
and pain froze me solid,
but I had to do something.
I reached down and used my fingers to
unclamp its jaw from my body.

when I woke, I dreaded
the seals in my life which would latch onto my foot.
I am not a seal tamer at sea world
or a deep sea scuba diver;
I am not a ship captain or fisherman,
knowledgeable about watery biomes,
but I am a human with a need to survive.
While the prophecy foretold hardship,
it also envisioned my ability to escape.