Hooked
Wayne Wight
Our captain swore the day that I was born
he saw their forms, sliding silhouetted
off the stern before the storm. That summer,after the flooding, the strange
tides and the wave of freak
drownings, we moved away. I recall,later, how I was caught, six
years old and wriggling, stranded
halfway up the glinting chain link. As always,my birthday brings rain. The kelpy fronds
of cornstalks drift in the gloom as I twist
past, drenched again and stealing backto the reservoir. From the black
basin of the wide mere
I hear the mermaids keeningfor me. The water will
be cold I think, but I’m already
wet and cannot wait to drink.
Photograph © J.S. MacLean
Review by Luce
This is a sound sea tale told in a neat, easily digestible, three line format
with plenty of soft internal rhymes (born/forms/storm) and alliterations (sliding/silhouetted, glinting/chain link) to make it sing.The speaker may be a young whale, dolphin or perhaps a manatee making its way back to the sea from warmer waters. Of course I can be totally off the mark but I don’t care. I love the sound of this and the image of something/someone trying to find its way back home again is compelling. Luce
