Miguel Jacq is a French-Australian poet and photographer. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, where he runs (some say ruins) an IT business. His first poetry collection, Black Coat City, was released in print and e-books in February 2013 (presumably the critical acclaim is drunk in a bar somewhere). Miguel’s work has appeared online or in print via various journals and anthologies including those by Blue Hour Press, Dagda Publishing, Deep Water, Literary Journal, and Kind of a Hurricane Press. Visit his blog.
Ten Days at Sea
By Miguel Jacq
By Miguel Jacq
After 10 days at sea
I have converted
to the gravity of the moon,
less a magnet anchored
to the skin of her older sister
I have converted
to the gravity of the moon,
less a magnet anchored
to the skin of her older sister
I move at the whim of waves
Not unlike Brazilian protests
of 2013
not unlike the way pregnant sound
carries new sound
between me and the ship-wrecked
depths, my own reflection
startled at me
as though all this time
submerged,
it became itself a fish
agape at the maw
of predatory black
leering in hunger
over my shoulder
Ten days at sea
and I lower my thoughts
on a hook
to drag an alien poem
into grilled breath,
to flop about, helpless
on the warped wood
of reality
before being swallowed
by that gaping maw
or tossed back.
Reminds me of “Life of Pi”.