poetsquib.com

come unwrap the waterbird
drowned tight
in the white enamel basin
this night before christmas
come see it lies
on its side it has risen
to the surface to
the occasion
its grinning beak
a mockery a mockery

can i be the waterbird
drowned in the night
can i present to you
my watertight soft
as feather feathers
sodden cold stuck flat
pinioned
to my floating dead
weight body on a
dewy christmas dawn

can i be the gift
for your golden choir boy
son
the surprise contained
within my dumb stillness
my unexpected inability
to walk on water
am i the star of what is not
hope
a stillborn christmas

am i a pointedly pointless
sign sent to say
the walls of the basin
were too high
and i could not swim
in this cru-el well
all night

come my bright pink paper
cracker crowned magi
come stoop and scoop
my soft pastel little
body
into your large hairy net
hands
the water i swam too
long in dripping
from your elbows
staining your suede
decked feet forever
can i represent for you
your failure?

© meredi o