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Thursday 3 November 2011

Siren Voice

From gently singing in her sleep, she wakes.
She of the siren voice slides out of bed
and makes her way to her small bathroom space.
Low. Slope of ceiling. There
with nowhere for the head,
she bows, as all must bow, unless,
as she does now, 
the skylight is unlatched. Pushed up into the night.

Head in cool night air,
the naked body slightly shivering,
she stands, part in, part out, to brush her teeth.
Arrayed before her: sea and naked rocks,
she tilts her head, looks up towards the stars.
At their most beautiful.
                        She pauses her ablutions,
hits the perfect note - high C of legend -
has shattered tumblers in her time
and wonders
           vaguely
                  can she shatter stars?

The note fragments the song, her voice
and voice box now are instruments,
her art an abstract sound...

And now a stream of perfect notes.
She hears the echoes coming back,
hears what we don't hear: harmonics
gathering like birds on wires.

She hears the cosmos tremble
                            at the sheer audacity
of what she tries -
                   or thinks she does.
Such deep and vibrant sounds -
then bends again
                resuming her ablutions.
Rinses.
Glances back
            up once more and out into the night
looks up towards the stars.
One star seems brighter than
    and larger than before. 
    Grows as she looks.
The light awhile too bright,
                            she hides her eyes.
The sea erupts as water spout.
There's violence.
Then when she looks
                   is calm again.

Has she a voice to lure stars to the rocks?
A song to suck a satellite
out of the ether,
out of the very cosmos that is sky
reflecting back her voice?
(For is that not the very thing 
the satellite is meant to 
Do? Do?  Do?  Do?  Do?  Do?  Do?  Do? 

17 comments:

sunny said...

Hi Mr Dave,beautiful poem,like it

Cloudia said...

*gasp*
I had such a low roof that rolled back to show miles of dark mountainside, sea and stars!

Reading this I felt spied upon - a strange sensation, Dave.


Aloha from Honolulu

Comfort Spiral

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Isabel Doyle said...

beautiful song

jabblog said...

Oh, to have a voice like that!

Solid Rock or Sinking Sand said...

I really enjoyed reading the posts on your blog. I would like to invite you to come on over to my blog and check it out. God's blessings. Lloyd

Isabel Doyle said...

Now you mention it, there are resonances - I was going to post Loy Krathong yesterday but Mr Ratty got in the way with his heart strings ...

I like the space and story you have conjured here, whereas mine is more of a lament. The surrealists would have no trouble accepting your thoughts though.

Isabel x

Liz Rice-Sosne said...

I enjoyed this poem. I love the idea of a siren. One who has always appeared to me as wild, alone, an individual with much personal power.

I especially like: "She hears the cosmos tremble."

Lolamouse said...

I really love the line "can she shatter stars?" Yes, I think she can! Lovely, lovely, lovely.

B said...

I can imagine this as part of a chapters in a book. I was instantly drawn in. Beautiful!

Cait O'Connor said...

This is exquisite Dave, thank you.

Hannah Stephenson said...

Lovely, intimate moment here.

I like thinking of the skylight...a private little window that allows us to look out into the sky without anyone watching us back.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Again Dave you have managed a lot of very good imagery.

Windsmoke. said...

What a powerful and haunting voice the siren has :-).

haricot said...

She is like a marmeid who has her own small space(room) and has her powerful voice to tremble cosmos.

Mary said...

Very nice write, and yes, I bet she CAN shatter stars with her voice.

kaykuala said...

Great offering Dave! As usual you come with gems!

Hank

Dave King said...

sunny
Thanks. Glad you like it.

Cloudia
A friend of mine retired and opened a pub/restaurant. We stayed there a few times. One of the rooms had such a bathroom. I had to open the skylight to pee!

Isabel
Thank you very much. Means a lot.

Shame Mr Ratty got in the way. I'm something of a surrealist myself at heart.

jabblog
A burnig desire of one who was in the cats' chorus at school!

Lloyd
Hi Llod. Many thaks for the comment and for the invitation. I shall be over anon.

The Old Raven
Hi, Welcome to my blog. Many thanks for your comment. I have the fascination with the siren - ever since I was in my pre-teens.

Lolamouse
Lovely to have your comment. Thank you so much for it.

Britania
Hi. Good to have your company - and your very generous comment. Many thanks for both. I think I see your point. Most interesting thought.

Cait
A warm welcome to you, and my warmest thanks.

Hannah
Yes - now there's a thought that might be worth pursuing! Thank you.

The Weaver of Grass
Thank you, good to know you think so.

Windsmoke
Indeed - a must for sirens, that!

haricot
I like the way you put it. Yes, very much. Thank you.

Mary
There seems very little doubt about it. Thank you so much.

kaykuala
Thank you. Your comments are much appreciated.