 | The Poems of Gary Moore BACK |  |
| CHILDREN OF THE SHARK |
THE CHILDREN OF THE SHARK Caught: Mouths stuffed with dispel Cannot howl. Not that you can hear fish Screaming in the night. Led in treacherous shallows They were Grasped by the tide, flung on shore. Their pointed faces were Rasped in the sand Shoved by the waves. They are two feet long Progeny of the tyrants of the sea Overthrown Who died in salt Niobe’s tears Washing, washing. Each one Has its small mouth open In silent sigh Caught when water Rushed back Their brief lives Washed out. Moonlight incalesces from the sea. The blink Of each blind white ripple Crawls—no, flips hysterically Cut worm Alive in separation of colors Silver from a dark sea Leaving it empty. They seem alive Asleep in their bed Demon mechanisms Unfeeling and set Prepared to return To their element And live. Their skin Bites the hand Scales shaped Like Rows of teeth: Hungry It is written A shark was hooked Brought in, gutted Cast open Back in the sea Returned alive With limitless belly Taking the hook again In its mouth Baited with its Internality This won first prize in the |