Seascape, Shipping by Moonlight
Moonlight distilled by clouds
fog rises like cigar smoke
the lighthouse flashes its eerie eye
winking under the serrated weight of night.
The hesitant silence of the elements
will choke you if you stand too close
but even from a distance
you can judge the stagnant thickness.
A storm tiptoes over the horizon
showing its shy head like a virgin mistress
fingerprints of titanium white
puff the stark promise of light.
The sea froths like an old mouth
that forever verbalises memories
gasping for rain to salivate
its parched throbbing throat
it gurgles against the shore
as sleep relaxes the tides muscle.
Down in the belly of the ocean
seaweed curls in a circle like intestines
an x-ray of the canvas
reveals the still-life of a jug
something breakable, something skeleton
beneath the flesh of the Harbour.
Two men rest against the boats mast
two steps back and they are invisible
lost ships sailed by ghosts
only the moonlight makes them real.
Page(s) 23
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