The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!
All Things Rise
by Angela Yuriko Smith
The tide brings them up.
Some dark things walk in the sun.
Shadows are rising.
.
The spirits are whispering to me…
from the sea they speak of drowning.
Last breaths wasted in panicked gasps.
Final screams wasted on flotsam and sand.
.
From the sea they speak of drowning.
They give no thought to all that they once had.
Final screams wasted on flotsam and sand.
They claw for air that is no longer theirs.
.
They give no thought to all that they once had.
All that remains is to float with the fishes.
They claw for air that is no longer theirs.
They grope the dark for things they have lost.
.
All that remains is to float with the fishes.
Life’s sweetness spent scrabbling for scraps.
They grope the dark for things they have lost.
Take heed you don’t become found.
.
Life’s sweetness spent scrabbling for scraps.
Last breaths wasted in panicked gasps.
Take heed you don’t become found.
The spirits are whispering to me…
.
Shadows are rising.
Some dark things walk in the sun.
The tide brings them up.
.
Fiction © Copyright Angela Yuriko Smith
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.
More from Angela Yuriko Smith:
Angela Yuriko Smith is a third-generation Ryukyuan-American, award-winning poet, author, and publisher with 20+ years in newspapers. Publisher of Space and Time magazine (est. 1966), two-time Bram Stoker Awards® Winner, and HWA Mentor of the Year, she shares Authortunities, a free weekly calendar of author opportunities at authortunities.substack.com.















Such an amazing, touching poem Angela! ❤
I adore the form of this poem (? pantoum) – the repeated lines give a beautiful rhythm that conveys the power and sway of the sea – marvellous.
An exquisite poem.