JAN NAPIER

Stranded Whale
(a dying)

         from that blue remove
where conclusion is borne slow
         twitching eyelid
the trembling ruby that is heart
         sputter of neuron and axon
the self in its moment of
         aloneness
greying into fugue       that easing of thought
         into the zen of un ness
the sea
      receding

                    sudden

lurching return to blood and heat and fear
        painscapes       dripping
mauve
         crimson
ash
         bone snap and sea dust       tonnage of air
hard to breathe       a fluke half lifts
flumph of tail       almost afloat
         seagulls       screaming       seagulls
the sea
         receding

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Jan Napier is a Western Australian poet. Her work has been showcased in journals and anthologies both here and overseas. Jan’s first collection Thylacine, was launched in 2015.