minnows swerve,
sweet sparkles of charm,
shoal-quick,
gossiping
soft as anemones,
sneaky as fronds--
then crude
from obscene jaws,
wide as a sperm whale's,
or defensive as crabshell
over wet martinis
on the rocks.
tentacles
feast on the angst
in the claws,
cracking their sarcasm,
blending it with roe
or caviar paté,
as night lists
and shadows crowd out surface.
hints of wolf eel
and shark.