The Albatross Flies Backwards

Everything is tumbling past
a steel guitar I had at first thought
looked like rain

the trial of true redemption slips a little
in the Chinese transliteration
as I guess a Kung Fu version of
Paradise Lost might

& skimming the silver that
drives the heart you could learn to
tempt the aimlessness we’ve worked so
hard to perfect
                              torched by blossoms
              deposited along the shore
                                                by seasick mermaids
                              on horseback

We succumb to these
barely sustainable indulgences
to compensate a re-purposed rendition of
ocean fog infinitely glimmering & damp
tattooed on your instep
like a nautical star