The cold caress of pelagic eyes
Over my still dripping wounds,
Once enunciated rejection is futile.
What chance offered could be seized?
An organic cynosure,
A fearsome mermaid
Glazed in salt and sand with skin
The color of unshucked oysters.
–
My heart is a harbor
Into which ships stowaway
Silent as spoons.
Hands raw with distress
I mount the embankment,
A barb-wire smile
Bubbling up from the blue.
I am prepared to die,
To have my sinews
Picked clean and ingested.
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I love it when you throw a new word at me Yves, ‘unshucked’ what a wonderful way to describe an unopened oyster…..
Thank you Michael I was rather pleased with it myself because I had quite a hard time with that line until I finally hit on that
Great when a word comes together for you.
Yikes. Kinda gruesome close on this one. Can you imagine Prometheus. Chained to a rock and to live as they picked your bones clean. The heart as a harbor, all the ships locked tight in their moors is an effective metaphor, reminds me a bit of Bob Kauffman, which is a good thing. Probably my fav poem by him. Nice layering in the last stanza too, the barbed wire adds to that feeling of the locked tight harbor.
I can indeed X and it is a gruesome image. Thank you so much X I will have to check out Bob Kauffman
So what strikes me about the popular “unshucked oysters” line is this: How could one know the color of unshucked oysters, as it’s impossible to ever see? So we can assume the same is true of the mermaid’s skin.
So the way I read this, you are actually the mermaid. But I think you’re willing to sacrifice yourself to save the one(s) in your heart by leaving the water. Either you’ll die in this sacrifice, or you’ll become a human (like Ariel in The Little Mermaid), in which case, being eaten is probably a metaphor for the way humans cause each other so much pain. Living under the ocean is probably much calmer … but for the sharks. 😛
The sharks are pretty nerve-wracking and I can’t even think about the deep sea. I mean how can we even question aliens exist, knowing the madness that lurks in our very own ocean. Thank you so much love your version!
I am prepared to die,
To have my sinews
Picked clean and ingested.
One is ever ready to prove a point and take a stand. Rightly so Yves!
Hank
Thanks so much Hank!