I am an anglerfish,

Fishnets stuck in between my teeth,

One-liner hooks spilling

From bleeding gums.

Anglerfish rely on a light to attract prey,

A bioluminescent feature, a false light,

To attract minnows such as yourself.

You, something small and insignificant,

A cicada on the scale

Bordering between annoying and entertaining,

Somewhere between a mosquito and a lightning bug.

We, the hungry, do not see our own faces,

And we avoid one another,

Afraid to see the mirror image of scales and razors

And false hope illuminating dark depths

With too many fish in the sea.

You are not the one that got away,

You are not what destroyed me,

I was a mess of missing parts and string

Tangled in artificial things

Long before you came along-

Do not flatter yourself by thinking you could ever

Destroy the blind predators,

The starving of the deep.