A Kid on A Trampoline

One day a voice said,
“Do not get munched by the shark,”
because just as summer got rolling
my phone’s algorithm blessed me
with a video to which I succumbed—
at least three times—
of a man being eaten alive
by a sleek assemblage of muscle,
cunning, and pearly whites
that could not have been more
perfectly designed for
just such a task.

You do not need to live by the sea
to know your own shark 
will, one day, turn your water 
crimson,
then circle back as you yelp
for mercy, for help, for another day—
before being flipped airborne
like a kid on a trampoline
in his yard as his dad 
flips burgers and chugs a cold one—
as if to teach you 
that you cannot fly, 
and there is no rope to save you.

Grant Vecera teaches writing, literature, and thinking at Butler University and at Indiana University Indianapolis. His work has been blowing hearts and minds in literary periodicals for the past thirty years. More recent appearances include Samjoko Magazine, Aethlon, Reverie Literary Magazine, and Merion West.