Four Fathoms Deep

Four fathoms deep did I fall

In one fell swoop it was all over

Schools of brilliant colored fish

Darted swaying forward and aft

I reached out to feel one briefly

An eerie creepy feeling gripped me

I had become an island habitated by

Ocean creatures great n small

My long black tresses rose and fell

With the rising waves undulating

In the choppy waters of the might ocean

My nemesis had finally caught up

I was doomed to have a watery grave

The fear of which had been the bane of my life

The pleasure cruise had become a nightmare

Once I toppled over into the water below

Dismay, distress, phobia, panic all attacked me

In one go- but after an eon- I suddenly felt lighter

I heard cries and shouts all around

The rescue team from the ship was working

Furiously to find me in the mighty ocean

It was like searching a needle in the haystack

I felt myself filled with mirth and felt like shouting

Hey look up I am here above   flying freely

Overseeing my rescue efforts n having a ball

Puzzled greatly as to why did they not see me

Floating high above right in front of their eyes

And then it finally dawned on me that I was no more

I was deceased and that the me that was flying was my soul

And my body lay supine on the floor well laid out as a

Feast for the living creatures on the ocean floor!!!! 

 

 

 

There was an immeasurable distance between the quick and the dead: they did not seem to belong to the same species; and it was strange to think that but a little while before they had spoken and moved and eaten and laughed.
W. Somerset Maugham, ‘Of Human Bondage’, 1915
English dramatist & novelist (1874 – 1965)