Take the blanket from my eyes where
sheets are cool, and smell the smell,
cool of river & smolt and starch,
back arches and falls the mattress
slice of fin through the water
dorsal,
bend and under, the rhythm
the tabla drums,
the rhythm your hands, the hook I thrash
the bait so taken, breathing quick, the tail
& turn, I gasp your fingers to my
lips
the taste of salt and warm to a bleeding mouth
reach in, the fiercest whisper,
the deepest secret
only the sea winds so ride:
Pull the covers down, where
darkness surrounds me as so
you weigh me down.
Resist and drawn,
the line is reeled, a
flash of sun to see,
my life explodes beneath your palms.