Where once there was nothing
But deep cold and ice unmelting,
A chunk of glacier breaks off,
Falls into the sea,
Drifting south:
A translucent coffin that spins
Shrinking in deep valleys
Between mountainous waves:
Drifts into a tide
That’s turning, is finally
Beached: ice falls away,
Rivulets run down
A slowly
Emerging
Outline in marble,
Man sized
And then half a yard taller at least:
As he breathes in
A wave slides up the shingle,
As he breathes out
Foams back down again:
Curious seagulls circle,
One hovers keening
As his veins swell
Rain falls quenching
Cracked lips,
Throat muscles ripple,
Eyes flicker open,
Resurrected, he stands:
Rain falls
And a chaos of scars
Rinses away,
Rain falls
And he’s tasting
Ashes and cinders:
For this is hell
Turns inland,
Begins walking.
Kevin Patrick McCann
Illustration by Lorenzo Mattotti