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i bought a sailing ship from a man called jaqueline

and i swear to you his head was cut from the fabric of our dreams

 

he took a harpoon in one hand,

on the day that we first met,

a length of rope in the other,

a floundering fish tied to the end

his knots were quick and simple,

his eyes all shoddy and red,

but he tied that length of rope,

and turned it all velvet from salmon to knot in his hand

 

then he took a long glance skyward

put his body behind a westward stab,

harpooned a cloud in the graying sky.

 

the little fish flew, all scales and flab

through that bright green open space made of clouds

and we watched that little white angelfish

swimming in snow, tears sliding out his gills

and we all around, on the deck of this ship, knew he'd never come down

but then he already had