THE MERMAID’S TAILThe mermaid’s tail patting the water With a lovely little splish splash Foaming up the water around her rock Where she reclines in the sun, Looking toward you with her big brown eyes That brim with sin and promises. You stand at the mast, ready to jump in, Ready to swim toward her And her breasts bare and pointing to you. The mermaid’s tail patting the water As if a hand tapping on the bed Calling you to come and lie down The way she is calling you to come And rest eternally in the watery grave she has dug And you? You will put the blame on the sea. From the coast the birds gone fishing watch you As you falter in your great swim, Only your right hand visible as if waving goodbye And you will put the blame on the sea. RIDING THE GREASED PIG OF SUNSETRiding the greased pig of sunset all the way down the sky to the precisely-timed space of total darkness between the dying and the newborn sun. Each night dropping down another of my memory-holes. Wherever she would arrive she always had packages in tow and I’m remembering now picking her up at the train station in the rain. Tonight will be walking to my car with her in the rain, helping her carry all her packages. Getting to my front door with her, being greeted by my sweet, mean cat. Sliding down the firepole, deeper and deeper down. Endless floors descending. Nauseated by movement, blurring in such darkness. Never landing on the 1st floor. The image of a ship comes through, still deep in the distance with its enormous crucifix of a mast and I’m thinking about getting the lights on, piling all her stuff on the dining table. She’s forever taking off her wet things while I ask her if she wants to eat now or later. The ship always comes closer but it never arrives. Riding the greased pig of sunset like a comet hot to smash the earth. Torching all that total darkness, then flickering out between the dying and the newborn sun. John Tustin’s poetry has appeared in many disparate literary journals since 2009. fritzware.com/johntustinpoetry contains links to his published poetry online.
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