i,i
He woke around 07:00 to the sound of the heavens; hangover looming like a crane in the wind. His blackened eyes reflecting the shimmering sadness of the seas, the only home he knew, inhospitable slump.
BURNT RUIN
The light is long, as is the day. It skips off the surface before salt scorching the shack.
Oh what a surprise, the returning chaos rains.
Though ghosts are excellent listeners, the talking becomes too much. He feels to cut out his tongue, fry it in butter and swallow it whole.
*the impossible task of hiding the sky
He hears the mechanism grinding on the wind like fingernails on slate even when the machines are off. And foghorn song from tankers that never anchor, but always state their case at ludicrous volume across the strait.
Reminders that orders must be obeyed, without debate, every minute of the waking day.
Sky glows low and soft, but menacingly enough; a last ditch stance begins.
He unfurls his half-moon blade and takes the pinky finger from his left hand, to repay the guttering gulls for the babies he pinched.
They peck the fleshy stick emotionlessly, demanding more digits with frenzied beaks on window panes.
*scene
I (don’t) want to be alone
I need to touch each stone
Face the grave that I have grown
I (don’t) want to be alone
Life destroys life
Rises and falls
Tail fins in the infinite wash
True silence in the stands
Broken nose for breakfast
Meadows in the mountains
Picture books of Paris in spring
Palm trees and pineapples
They make him re-want it
To re-turn the pages
Covered in crimson
An isle
Crippled by sorrow
To lose one of its own
From here to blue heaven the tears pour in buckets and ROAR in true pitch with the ocean
Shorting the lamps
Sending him back to where everything begins
And ends
And as the world ceases to exist
Such wonderful blurring
Touching his heart like blood on the rocks
A voyage of discovery
Bleeds to an end
We ask this body pass, almighty God Of The Sea.
*scene
Moments later, his replacement enters the quarters, sets his cap and luggage down and levels a drink.