White Water

for Line McKie

The light, tarred skin

of the currach rides

and receives the current,

rolls and responds to

the harsh sea swell.

Inside the wooden ribs

a slithering frenzy; a sheen

of black-barred silver-

green and flailing mackerel:

the iridescent hoop

of a gasping sea trout.

As a fish gleams most

fiercely before it dies,

so the scales of the sea-hag

shine with a hectic

putrescent glitter:

luminous, bleached —

white water —

that light in the narrows

before a storm breaks.

Drunken Sailor (2004)