The Seabirds

No foreign pair of dark sunglasses

will ever shield you from the light

that pierces your eyelids, the screaming

of the gulls / Feeding off the bodies

of the fish, thrashing up the bay till it was

red, turning the sky a cold dark colour

as they circled overhead.

He swam out to the edge of the reef,

there were cuts across his skin,

saltwater on his eyes and arms, but

he could not feel the sting / There was

no one left to hold him back, no one

to call out his name, dress him feed

him drive him home, say "Little boy

it doesn't have to end this way !"

He announced their trial separation, and

spent the night in a Park Beach Motel

bed, a total stranger lying next to him,

rain hitting the root hard over his head /

She said "What's the matter now lover

boy, has the cat run off with your

tongue? Are you drinking to get

maudlin, or drinking to get numb?"

He called out to the seabirds "Take me

now, I'm no longer afraid to die", but

they pretended not to hear him, and just

watched him with their hard and bright

black eyes / They could pick the eye

from any dying thing that lay within

their reach, but they would not touch

the solitary figure lying tossed up

on the beach.

So, where were you?