All at sea
High up in the crow's nest
foam corkscrews below
One more minute
and the waters will split
the great snake's tail slice through
with a splintering shriek
dash the ship into so many matchsticks
The music's loud, the conversation light
the swoop and the swirl of it
a passing tray of canapes
It comes in waves
pitch and roll
back to the wall
another glass of wine and I'll have the courage to speak
If I can just breathe
keep to my post
hold steady against the juddering swell
maybe I can beat it back
keep my head above water
Under my heel I can feel the shift
my lips are cracked with salt
On the breeze
It's cold up here
the air is thin
I can see the swallows, below me now
the brindled shadows the clouds
cast over bright harvest ripe fields
I can see the ring of birch trees
sun through green leaves
the old house
the rope swing slung over the bough in the yard
frayed almost right through
but holding out
- just
I close my eyes and wonder
could I have stopped the rot?
the subtle stiffening seeping into us
with each tick of the grandfather clock
lonely in a dust encrusted corner
could I have pricked the silence with the right words
so that it burst and let out its poison?
before we brought the whole thing
toppling down
with no last minute reprieve
no hole in the eaves perfectly placed to miss
move away with a light step and a double blink
the jinx heavy upon our heads
until
quite suddenly - with a soap bubble pop!
you granted me this
choked release
the final drop
Too late
to go back over it now
it's drifting
with each fresh breath of the wind
I float
a little further
away
Longshore drift
The sea is a casino and the tides play the dealer
inch by inch, wave by wave
seaweed, stones, unwary creatures
shuffled and slotted by sleight of hand further along the coast
Do they ever open an eye, mouth, shell
hold out a wary claw or tentacle
wondering how they got here
so far from the still rockpools of home?
You got here before me
phone face down on the table
you're wearing someone else's smile
I scan the horizon for a familiar landmark
my vision pitching
alien sands beneath my feet