start

festering slowly away,
creeping just beneath
the stretched restraints of your skin

and no matter the antiseptic prayers you spread
in layers beneath
this clean white cloth,
it has already reached the blood.


blessed infection streaks fire through your veins
as you claw to let it free,
and the animal seeks to rise up inside,
to capture your spirit
and wear it as armor
to keep you from killing it
and yourself

but perhaps it mistakes the level
of your want to live,
for the water has always been
nipping at your chin
and it would be only too easy
to simply slip in.

all that would be needed is a weight
about the shape and size
of the plague that changes
the glint of your eyes
to a steady, flaming
red.

--
Title is prompt, along with this random wiki article, specifically the second to last sentence of the film summary.