On the pebble beach I await a grim ferry,
its grinning timbers
approach the coral landing.

Smiling oarsmen
humusize beneath ancient cassocks,
at the stern
an ivory pilot reaps his path.

Eddies of blood
foaming over the water
converge one cadaverous stratum,
carrion seabirds
alight its dark surface. Overhead,
aberrant clouds anvil the skies.

The gulls are calling, and my leave-taking
the familiar abeyance
thrusts consciousness through me.

A beating chamber
encases my spirit like rusty armour;
marks are appearing over my flesh,
they are a mystery. Only the augural mariner
comprehends such banes.

I am nearing my destination, dark nourishment
abates my confinement. I am
washed upon ashen shores—
ejected by waters, innate and primeval.

On the dim horizon, an alluvial secrecy
awaits my embrace,
its ruddy complexion—
abysmal and starless
effaces my blood.