Shearwater My Only Boy
My only boy, be not so blind.
Open your eyelids wide. In through your mouth, breathe
soft, light…
There are no words, no hands, no eyes,
to show where a door stands wide.
In through your mouth, breathe soft, light…
Let your heart stand open,
when silence trickles down, bright,
and softly, slowly surrounds
your little ghost town
Set all the silver lamps alight.
Open the windows wide
(come to me now, in soft light).
Show every world in its separate light-
(A gull’s wing, a crow’s dark eye)
Where all the city’s foundlings lie
When your heart stands open,
and offered to a crowd,
draw lines around your chosen life.
And let it burn, bright -
over all the lovely faces
(In place of the sun,
In place of the moon…)
