Playabout: Swan

A man once said one's best thoughts seem as if they come on at night,  
and while I'm no expert, evidence suggests I thought this might be one -- it isn't, and wasn't, but I couldn't turn it down -  
   
My parenting style is somewhat a swan,  
savaged by a pike,  
thrashing on the surface, unwinding underneath,  
[I am unsure if pike take on swans  
(Upon further inspection,  
due to the reflections made in brackets here,  
a swan has indeed been savaged by a pike  
though they prefer cygnets,  
as do turtles,  
so too crows)  
but I am that one, at least    
for the purposes of this metaphor  
...or analogy..  
or ramble.  
{I'm tired, okay?}]  
\I'm sure there are correct ways  
to use each bracket also,  
though as I've run out of options  
this will have to do\  
So I'm a swan,  
let's say,  
surrounded by still water,  
quiet of a park,  
weight of pike teeth,  
sinking into leg.  
I put up a fight,  
splash, make sound,  
but some days it's an inevitable collapsing  
from light straight into dark.