The speech didn’t leave her with much of a choice.
She waited till she got back
before she ended it.
Straight to university alone
but it was too close
to think about now.
Now she was home
and all
all that was left of her trip
a fuzzy border
round the eyes
and the light
before sunrise
the sky shrugged
off its canopy
as she walked
to keep her appointment
with that wide expanse
of sea which had
elicited beautiful thoughts
of biology
before she started moving
introspectively
a kind of love
a kind of relief
to hear the noise
of tide dragging
once more on the rocks
she didn’t want to leave
but it was nearly five
her mother would be waking soon
she had to be in bed before then
home
another emotional restriction
the acid made her free
but she had spent the whole night
not quite feeling freedom
thinking of the people she
would have to meet
now she was back
her watch told her
she had another half hour
she picked her favourite rock
and sat listening to the sea
the tiger came
from the forest
following her tracks
she felt him breathe on her neck
as he nuzzled her back
he faced her
she looked into his eye
and saw herself reflected
in that wilderness
he yawned
there was no purpose
to her fear
she felt it anyway
he lay down beside her
she rested her head on his belly
which moved in time
with the sound of the sea
and as the sun came up
they fell asleep that way –
Poet Douglas Kearney and composer/producer/drummer Val Jeanty link up for a a compelling LP that feels like the written word come to life. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 30, 2021