Sea Hooks
12/14/2006 11:32 a.m.


Sea Hooks (14 Dec 2006)

the boats fish for my heart
then i fall becoming one more dusty bell
in the sand;

kelp inscriptions dot the shore
in Arabic script

only steps away from the imagination
of the sea and the bench on which i sit

the boat is painted the color of raunchy lipstick
and the sea lines her lips in decay

mountains in faded slips half a smile away

the rocks are a separate country
with a landscape all of their own

the sea is a million shifting hills
burrowing through the clouds
an engine's thunder

the yacht's thin white fin oscillates
cut from the clouds

the sea is freshly skinned
a moaning dragon of turquoise haemoglobin
eerie gentiles swim over the streets
of foam and torture

the path slopes for a better view
like a roman emperor craning and being handed grapes

the sea pours its batter into the pan of blue
i convulse with a hunger of departed flesh

the yacht strays too close to a man
groping for breath – too near to where sharks
have been seen

the bay lies loosely, easily, calmly
unsecretive as a dozing lion
gulls yip like carrion-seekers, i grip
the catwalk with my teeth
sink into its solid veneer
seeking the lull of self-deception

the unknown leaps across my face
toys with my tendrils
there is no escaping what is about to happen.