MichaelAitken

THE REPTILE AND THE FISH

Reptile: Sheet of flames before my eyes
Sheet of burning fire in my brain
Onions burning in the night
The burning onion fields are bright

Fish: Against you comes the sleepless ocean
Against you comes the tidal wave
Against you comes the moon layered tides
Against you the blistering bubbling seas

Reptile: Flying on a reddened cloud of flames
Above the watery cistern of the sea
Walking on explosions of fiery flame
Where you cannot get to me

Fish: Slapping waves slip through the air
Slapping the rocks, the sand, the glare
Glint of the sun that glimmers in the gloom
Fragments the embers of the red hot moon

Reptile: Over red-hot grains of smoking coals
Through smoke filled air and sun hot inferno
Through darts of flame of burning light
Over quaking, baking lava flows

Fish: The march of the oceans, rivers, and seas
Eroding the granite covering of fire
Pushing down mountains and dissolving lands
Denuding the gargantuan flames desire

Reptile: The flames that rage with powerful heat
At flight of skies and sleepless seas
Stamping on seas with steaming feet
Awoken with molten mixtures so deep

Fish: The cold, cold heart of fathomless sea
Filled with darkness at the sight of thee
The sun quenching skies overcast and black
Rumble and roar and with deluge attack

Reptile: Open eyes burning with fires so bright
With terror of flames like stinging hornets
With serpentine flames of venomous bites
That blister and hiss at the watery night

Fish: In sleepless swimming swaying seas
The treacherous heart with its watery keys
Filled with salt to rub in your wounds
A smothering blanket to catch away your breath

Eagle: The wind will puff from its mountain height
Turn water to snow and blow out the light
Exhausting the oceans emotional heart
Turning the flames to a crackle and spark

With a spinning eye, the sword slash of air
The invisible winds will no wrongdoer spare
Keep still you seas with your sleepless tides
Stay cool you fires to earth chambers hide

1994

I’m talking in a storm to the calm world.
I’m talking in a storm to the hushed room.

In the courtroom the storm is harnessed.
I am witness to it’s troubled past.
How wind and sea were bad parents,
How wave grew to angry sea.

The past of the storm is legendary,
The child of famous parents, his identity was lost.
The wayward wind was never home-
The sea would send him to foreign shores.

I’m talking in a storm to the quiet world:
To the judge I talk with tears of troubled years.

Can you hear my pleas?
So used to telling tales am I.
You may not believe I’m real,
But would I be here if I didn’t care.

That’s all I can say.

Yes I was a wayward parent,
With storms of my own to deal with.
Fame brought self-indulgence.
I thought I could ignore my own storms.

I left them to be picked up by my child.
My child is now on trial here for his life
And the storm has returned to its homeport
After causing a trail of destruction.

I’m talking in a storm to the calm world.
So inwardly I look; outwardly I cannot cope.

1994

I was inspired by the story of Marlon Brando’s son who I think killed someone. I was interrupted by someone and was not able to finish exploring the subject with its fascinating and complex layers of emotion.

When I heard of what you did, I knew you were true
But I wondered if you knew it too
But I expected this day to come my way
But the reality is over awing
I’ve been standing so still, like a calm pool
That no wind could move or wear away
Just like rock knows the next year
So the dream will see it.

The post box lifts up its skirts
and takes off down the road with my letter
running to catch the plane at the airport
to deliver the letter over the Irish sea
take the letter personally to your door.
No strikes or wars or earthquakes
can stop it, you’ll have my letter soon
I can be positive, I can be assured.

My cold white feet look like the damp white snow
As darkness drifts into the sky.
The windows yawn open in the whistling wind
the travelling alarm clock looks tired.
I’ve just crawled out of my empty pocket
Into the circus ring of my mind
I can hardly decide what road to take
As if love was still a crossroad sign.

I’ve been in oblivion for 14 days
Will your remember me at all?
I’ve had no money for 14 days
I’m thin from not eating enough.
I promised myself that I’d love you
Everyday that I knew to exist
But I took the road into limbo
And my watch fell decaying from my wrist.

Now the mysterious road to you my love
Is plagued with mental disease and doubt.
I sit claustrophobic in my hotel room
Not daring to spend money or go out.
But I think of you and my heart feels blue
But my imagination plays magic tricks
By putting doorways into the empty sky
Endless corridors where my decisions drift.

I’m trapped and strapped in a timeless vacuum
That I never shook from my mind.
Parting from you is so heartlessly cruel
When people demand I should account for the time.
If distances were paved with gold
I could afford the train to your home every time.
If numbers always came consequently
It’d be no puzzle to dial your telephone line.

I’ll just submerge into depression
Let those bells ring aloud in my dream
And wake up in the jaws of dilemma again
Count my money and walk the streets.
Maybe if the snowfall ends
And I can change out of these dirty clothes
I’ll visit you to see if you remember me
Bringing you one bright red rose.

1979