the waves
carried
the corpses back
to the shore
the sea vomited
the lifeless
husks violently
where they
piled up in a
confusion of
tangled limbs
and dead eyes
staring blankly
into the warmth
of an afternoon
sun that could
never pierce
the frozen veil
from which
their souls were
forever tethered
the seagulls
ever opportunistic
circled low
landing to peck
the tender flesh
expanded by gases
ready to rupture
and spill out
the septic stew
roiling in their
useless abdomens
the crabs
skitter
claws snapping
tearing chunks
of rubbery
flesh from
the bone
a chitinous
symphony of
the ugliness in
a carrion feast
as the waves
gently lap
the entanglement
of bodies in
wretched repose

we sit staring
uncomprehending
of the sight
set out before us
as the sirens
howl but cannot
drown out the
cries of the gulls
or the clacking
of eager claws
yet we do not
flinch at the faces
slack jawed in
the abandonment
of living
distended stomachs
popping like
gaseous fireworks
as gore speckles
the pristine beaches
in a buffet of
sanguine repugnancy
while the fins
circle just off
of the shore