A climate change poem for today: Silent Sea by Rachael Boast
Silent Sea
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea- ST Coleridge
Into that silent sea- ST Coleridge
Another vessel sheds the chrome
of its silver mile until a mile
meanders into three, triples again
of its silver mile until a mile
meanders into three, triples again
over the reef. Nothing can breathe
under oil, nor register that
dark membrane’s slick
under oil, nor register that
dark membrane’s slick
over sight. We were the first
cracking the hull of the earth
open, our foolish husbandry
cracking the hull of the earth
open, our foolish husbandry
a metallurgy that’s brimmed
with false gold too often
we can talk, and talk, and talk
with false gold too often
we can talk, and talk, and talk
but a ship in space, manned
by non-thinking from non-feeling,
says absolutely nothing at all.
by non-thinking from non-feeling,
says absolutely nothing at all.
The Body Politic
As if history tells itself this way -
my country not what it was, my city
relatively at ease with its decay.
What of the marks on our bodies,
my country not what it was, my city
relatively at ease with its decay.
What of the marks on our bodies,
coded indices of war? Every movement
burns with enough friction to disturb
the border between one place
and another, to ignite unnerved armies.
burns with enough friction to disturb
the border between one place
and another, to ignite unnerved armies.
Who will bear this pain with us?
It is not mine, not yours.
One day we’ll finish cleaning the dust
from the feathers of nightingales.
It is not mine, not yours.
One day we’ll finish cleaning the dust
from the feathers of nightingales.
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