White Hinterland A Beast Washed Ashore
‘Neath the leaden lid
I saw your face
Ashen and pale as you walked away
And I stayed behind
Oh Where'd you go
Dearest friend of mine
Can you recall the lurid scene of savagery
The sea beast belly-up and beached
Twice as long as a seven mast ship
They took him apart with pliers and a crane
Oh they took him apart, though it took several days
And they took him apart and the townspeople came
And chit-chattered away
The sky that night seemed lacerated
Each cloud a con- contusion
Some wade in the water to wash his bones off
I wade in the water and I watch ‘em
Then they stack him up on a pushcart
Haul him off to the maritime museum
The horizon boasts a widowed light
That punches pinholes ‘tween the sycamores and pines
And through the sodden bogs I make my way back home
The biddies of the town can chew this tale down
And gnaw it into skeletal scraps ‘til fiction is fact
See the truckling trees, bare in the air
But for struggling kites
Oh! His bones are bleached, laid out on the truck
His teeth are brushed and his mouth is shut
His bones are tied with twine and screws
Put on poles, hoisted up in a room
I recall looking once ‘neath your lids
To a universe full of starts
And the days drag on awfully long
When you're not one who can carry on
Chit-chattering away
Chit-chattering away...
