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Seastairway

Vahni Capildeo

ofer waþema gebind–
‘The Wanderer’

We sail

a~a~a~the~the~the~the
sea-troughs~sea-tombs~seawalls
the~the~the~the~this~that~my
seafarer~seawalker~seasaint
her~their~sea-lamb~seafriend
wandered~outlined~holy~crowded

                wait for it: waiting occurs
                 in waves put up and shut up
                 the hand is undomestic
                 at this scale: ice-dipped, might be
                 a beak, cormorant, gannet;
                  might be a scientific                       with~seabelled~seanight
                  instrument,  ice-proof; is in           in~seaful~seawind
                   a bind. you know, if you know,    searoped~sea tongued~seagreat
                   you’ll put up and shut up. sleep    over~seabord~seaside
                   only, sleep alone, brings hands    down~seamist~seagrain
                   out of the scale of exile;                 seacircling~seabraes~seagentled

seaskin~early-white-haired
furious~sea-martyrdom~worth
seawork~surrounding~searopes
beside~emerald~seadeep~sea-show
sea-marching~to~sealaw~into
seaside’s~seabent~seawalls

fingerprints, in dreams, become
warmth in warmth, identified
and not identifiers.
who laps the swing of a sky             seastrolling~find~seadoors
where triumph and vertigo             into~seashelled~pulses
don’t lock down on darker eyes?  sealogged~seachanged~through                 
                                                                           calling~seaware~seavessels                                                                                                                 lie~break~seanight’s                                                                                              endured~seavessel~moves

seadogged~scaled~reined
bubbled~filled~wrecked
skidding~seafared~on
whispered~                                   put up and shut up. the gold
well~                                                of a horse of dreams canters
only~                                                the inheld field of my blood.
                                                            in your museums, I found
                                                            me, lady, right at your side. 
                                                                                                                           seaport


Vahni Capildeo

Copyright © Vahni Capildeo, 2018. All rights reserved.

Tags:

abstract Blue Crevasse sea water

About this poem

This poem was written as part of ‘The Blue Crevasse’ project, which marks the centenary of W.S. Graham in 2018. The image of a blue crevasse famously appears in W.S. Graham’s poem ‘Malcolm Mooney’s Land’, and the author’s estate welcomed the idea of creating a similar metaphorical space where admirers of the poet might, in a sense, be lowered for a month’s solitary ‘residency’.

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Vahni Capildeo

Vahni Capildeo is a Forward Poetry Prize-winning writer.
More about Vahni Capildeo

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