He lay there half buried in sand,
A ruined structure that once housed a man,
Now housing only bottom feeders.
How he got there he can’t recall,
No memories survived the fall.
Who was he before?
Was he a sailor on one of the ships
That pass by over the abyss,
Until storms condemned him?
Did he live a life of salt and wind
Until his profession did him in?
Did mermaids steal his last breaths?
His pitted skull, once contained,
Still mostly liquid, a human brain,
A mind before the fishes ate it.
What he did he can’t recall,
No memories survived the fall.
Who was he before?
Was he crook with cunning schemes
That exploited others’ dreams?
Was it justice that stole his flesh?
Was he of pearly smiles and silver tongue,
Ended by a lead weight or the end of a gun?
Did vengeance wreak its passion on him?
His rib cage once held lungs and heart,
Until nibbling lips rent it apart,
Now stones fill him up.
Where he came from he can’t recall,
No memories survived the fall.
Who was he before?
Was he a disloyal or scornful lover?
Did he find himself in the arms of another?
‘Til the jealous arms of the deep caught him.
Or maybe a heart full of lovesick grief,
Made him journey to the icy world beneath.
His choice to leave the sunlight.
A rope round his throat once bore a necklace,
Now the seaweed strangles him breathless
He doesn’t belong to that world anymore.
How he lived he can’t recall,
No memories survived the fall,
Who was he before?
Was he a golden prince?
All adventure and arrogance?
Until Neptune raised his Trident.
Did he live for the sun and the light?
Offending the Gods of the night?
Did they punish him for lack of devotion?
He once had a name much cherished,
Loved and hated before he perished.
Sometimes he thinks he hears it spoken.
How long he’s been there he can’t recall,
No memories survived the fall.
Who was he before?
(insp. ‘Fishbone Dreaming’, Mathew Sweeny from Up on the Roof: New and Selected Poems, Faber & Faber, 2001, & Night’s Master, Tanith Lee, TaLeKa, 15/09/2009)
Spitfire Words 