–after Peter Bain’s “Schooner in Harbor”
She only wants to see what others see: The shore-men’s work arrested by the clock; A scrim of light reflecting off the sea; The gadgetry of ships in harbor dock.
The shore-men’s work arrested by the clock Amplifies the silence underneath. The gadgetry of ships in harbor dock And pilings set like measures in repeat
Amplify this silence underneath That she can’t help but know, its heart concealed In pilings struck like measures in repeat. To her the blank of all has been revealed.
What she can’t help but know–its heart concealed In bollards, cranes, and winches waiting, mute— Is all the blank of all has been revealed And portioned up, a bitter substitute.
The bollards, cranes, drum winches waiting mute Parse nothing in the sky—no birds, no clouds Are portioned up; a bitter substitute For bones of masts and booms. The bearing shrouds
Brave nothing in the sky—no birds, no clouds— Their tensile ratlines tallying the loss In bones of masts and booms. The bearing shrouds Accentuate the yardarm’s naked cross
Their tensile ratlines tallying the loss That cannot be redeemed. Impending time Will weather down the yardarm’s naked cross Emboldening an endless pantomime
She wrestles to redeem. Advancing time, Encouraged by the clang of cable chains, Facilitates the endless pantomime; Asserts that what is here negates the pain
Heralded in those clanging cable chains She cannot reconcile. Their strident sound Postures that what is here negates the pain Of what is not, or never can been found.
She cannot reconcile their strident sound. A random rope’s displacement in a breeze, Discloses what is not, or never found, Transfiguring the daylight by degrees.
A single rope’s displacement in a breeze or scrim of light reflecting off the sea transfigures all the daylight by degrees— She only wants to see what others see.