The Siren Song

Jaliya “Reese” Mae Rueda Sanchez, Beyond the System Writing Contest

Beware

There’s a wretched storm a’brewing.
Batten down the hatches—
There’s a devil out there fuming.
She creeps like a shadow below,
Lurking and looming,
Silent slithering scales,
Ravenous hunger
When she begins consuming.

Take caution—

Ruby lips conceal a set of gnashing teeth,
Treading limber hands with sharp nails,
A perpetual urge to tear and feast.

Sunk with the decaying shipwrecks
Whirls a fishtailed enchantress;

Those desperate for fortune at sea are granted sudden death wishes.

Lungs filled with saltwater,
Trapped gurgling in her foaming chest,
Suddenly breaching the surface,
Coming to tear you from your vest.

Release your clinging demon—
Those dark memories you repress.
But choose wisely;

Your rotting corpse is her only bequest.

Tail sending tottering ripples out across the seven seas,

Feminine arms that in minutes
Rip a boat apart with ease,

Steering helpless souls toward inevitable deaths.

Lean in closer—

Taste the smell of rotting decay on her breath.
Preying on the sick and gullible,
Any she can stealthily confuse.
Lays feasting alone in a cave,

Washing down mangled appendages with booze.

A thieving impersonator,
Guaranteed to misguide the wisest men,
Dragging their riches deep down inside her frigid den.
Robbing lost folks of their most valued possessions,
Bubbling and seething just below the surface.
Auburn ringlets spiral in the sand like hissing serpents,
Barnacle-crusted seafoam skin glowing verdant.

A skillful blackmailer,

Thrives deluding masses,

Asphyxiates her prey in bitter saltwater that’s thicker than molasses.

Draws feeble souls into a shallow rocky harbor,
Realizing only seconds before death
That they’d wished they’d been smarter.
Freely thriving in pollution,
Steering the gullible into self-execution.
A hypnotic smile that tears and gnashes,

A temptress who steers enormous boats into disastrous crashes.

Do you hear her calling to the weak,
Steering them away,
Her serpent tongue in cheek?
When you least expect it, she emerges—
Rips you from your boat and drags you beneath the surface.

Nails dug deep into my skin,
I’m trapped in her grips,
Light quickly fading as I plunge deeper,
Engulfed by her dark abyss.