on surrender

by SALAAM ODEH

I soak,
scarcely alive,
the ocean a green as
deranged as 
me—
aging fish and
kelp and
sunken fleas leer
in disgust,
in hunger and
peck- 
peck at
the seeping grime
clothing me—
through the 
muck,
in depths beyond
what my eyes
can see 
comes a light—
somber, but real,
so my tired 
hands reach, 
and my body flails 
against the rusted net 
round my gills.
i float,
limp amidst the
whales, their kin
vibrant, and
alive and 
unlike me—
stillness envelops 
me then.