Selling Rope (Swan Dive to Estuary)

As I swan dive into the estuary, the birds do not flinch at my fall

They perch in the rafters, before, during, after: they do not notice me at all

As I float down into the estuary, wind cases my body in cool

I smell petrol fumes, see the smoke rise in plumes: the earth is one big fireball

Anecdote, lie

My own alibi

I've been telling jokes

Piled notes high

My own alibi

I've been selling rope

As I break the film of the estuary, the seaweed submerges my form

No passing cars stop, not a single jaw drops, as my wallet and keys sink before.

A splash all I left in the world

Once held a magpie in the palm of my hand and the blood in our veins flowed faster, as I'd planned

Got a heart full of love and a head full of more but a fist full of threads from the seams

and I saw a smile in that beak.

Oh I was a bird right then, one day I will be again

I've been telling jokes while selling rope to you

There's no ticker-tape, no golden gate

No carnival and no parade

Just one, one for sorrow