Two Pantoums

One: Marbles

I hold your hand and say –

I’ve held it since nineteen seventy-nine.

You laugh and tell me I’m copying off

The lyrics of Marbles.

I’ve held it since nineteen seventy-nine.

And yet I’m still not satisfied.

The lyrics of Marbles

Play on in my head.

And yet I’m still not satisfied

Because these plates they stay smashed

Play on in my head

Play on – but distract me not.

Because these plates they stay smashed

And there’s scratching at the door.

Play on – but distract me not,

For I have your hand in tow.

And yes – I’ve held your hand since nineteen seventy-nine.

Two: The Sea

I stand by the sea as harsh winds kill the breeze

And the night is alive with flights of eyes.

I look at the sand between my hands

That have stained my palms crimson.

And the night is alive with flights of eyes.

Their dark scorn is hot to my skin, and the antidote,

That has stained my palms yellow,

Finds its way, slowly, slowly, through the cracks in the sand.

Their dark scorn is hot to my skin, and the antidote is

Nowhere on the island of the lost.

Finding its way slowly, slowly through the cracks in the sand,

Is bile strong enough to melt bone.

Nowhere on the island of the lost,

My lungs beg for one more night of air. It's

Bile strong enough to melt bone –

Oh, I beg of you, remember the hush of rain!

Will these hands e’er be clean?