This poem is meant to be my vision of death.  Plain and simple.  I had a vivid nightmare about standing in a swamp or something, and the dream had a very tangible atmosphere of doom.  It's one of those poems that came out of me whole.  The cliché comparing the creative process to childbirth is right on.

I hope it doesn't put you off from reading more.  It's my only long poem, and the rest are generally more straightforward and not so stream-of-consciousness.