Picture by Bo Bartlett
This
is the one song everyone
would like to learn: the song
that is
irresistible:
the song that forces men
to leap overboard in
squadrons
even though they see the beached skulls
the song nobody
knows
because anyone who has heard it
is dead, and the others can't remember.
Shall I tell you the secret
and if I do, will you get me
out of this bird suit?
I don't enjoy it here
squatting on this
island
looking picturesque and mythical
with these two feathery
maniacs,
I don't enjoy singing
this trio, fatal and valuable.
I
will tell the secret to you,
to you, only to you.
Come closer. This
song
is a cry for help: Help me!
Only you, only you can,
you are
unique
at last. Alas
it is a boring song
but it works every time.
by Margaret Atwood
Via 3 Quarks Daily
So that's what happened to you when you innocently sailed your ship past the treacherous shoals of the RDG blog. I see. Well, I would have thought you would have had sense enough to lash yourself to the mast. Or is there more to this story? Is the siren song so maddening that you unloosed the knots of your own accord and jumped in over your head?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Margaret Atwood poem:
ReplyDeleteYou fit into me
like a hook into an eye
a fish hook
an open eye
Is that a song by the 'Police?
ReplyDeleteI've loved Atwood's fiction, but I haven't read much of her poetry. I suppose I had this internal bias that a great fiction writer couldn't possibly be also a great poet ... but I do love this. I love the 'bite' at the end. And Bo Bartlett is a nice find as well.
ReplyDelete@Max - are you suggesting that I'm a harpy???
xxx
Never. Only that Soub may be in over his head.
ReplyDelete@Max - Fair enough.
Deletexxx