The Devil & the Deep Blue Sea chapbook - Alan Garvey.doc

8/14/2019 The Devil & the Deep Blue Sea chapbook - Alan Garvey.doc

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The Deviland the

Deep BlueSea

Alan Garvey


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Bad Boyafter a painting by Eric Fischl

Open callipers measuringdegrees of truth, kneesyawning instead of mouth,

wound wound round me, nooseloose as the satin slipthat fell from your shoulders,

youre so cool, cool as the airconditioners monotonous tuneThe hot notes rise, fingers pass

from clef to clef, ! take my firststep, paw the rumpled notes"they reek of others sweat

#ids play $all and %ump through hoops&enetian $linds, this rooms split in twoTheres so much to do, so much

to touch !ts easy and warmin the dark, Gordian knotTo taste you must $reak

'ere a tailors scissors, snip snip"here the paper people holding handscut from sheets, sweat(silhouettes

)* +ontents

+roan odge -.ishermans Grove /

0udge These Books 12/311 11

A Toast 1*4y .ingers Direction 15

ove 1)The 6light of a 7riters 7ife 18

The 4arital 9apist 1-The Glass 1:

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 1/ife 4odel *2

6erfect Day *1A leap of faith **

Take a step $ack, or two *5+aterpillar *)

+hick *;Ba$es in 7e$land *-Streetwalker */

The 4elting 6ot 51Daisy 5*

9ogue 7ave 55


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Bad Boy )*

ast +all

7ould you decipher these skies for the linesthat led us here, find meaning highlighted$ut anchorless as cloud(puffs> The signs

are clearer to divine, our skys emptiedits cumulus $aggage, the ?uick strokesof cirrus oars sfumato in receding tides

of you and ! .inally, ! slide the doorshut on the seaside flat where we made loveOutside, like hundreds of clock hands, a murder

of crows spin overhead, ashes spiralling in the sunfalling down on our days, on a miniature $attlefieldwhere we raised arms too vain and young

to $e entrenched in


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=nd


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A false name was $illed for milk,groceries paid for $y cash not che?ueShe may have asked for a satellite dish,her +hristmas wish your somethingto muffle her cries, to keep herfrom outside

Swallows are still hereSummer $eats the +omeraghs drumsTwo years on the run slip$etween someones teethTheres the knock on the doorand the grief a few words impart

-

it was the sea she worried over&ery often it was the wind in her mindthat would sweep me off my feet

to the undiscovered countryBut, oddly, hurricanes of seventy knots

or more topple waves, even flatten them,whereas rogues are vertical,

domineering like the +liffs of Dover,a chalk that scri$$les over

everything on the $lack$oard

and turns $lack into white! can only imagine how it felton deck, or in the crows nest

of the Caledonian $tar,$ut then ! think of how ! fell

into you 'ow could ! have seen,even in the churning advance

of previous waves, you looming>

This would $e nothingout of the ordinary, love C

yes !ve $een there $eforeEou could have written%he Little &oo' of ChaosEou needed no advice

when you told me in the pu$,the moment ! knew

that the $a$y was the waveand the trough was you

But, like the Caledonian $tar,my engine kept turning over,

it did not miss a $eatSo that, shaken and stirred,

! pulled through


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Our homes no middle(class clichFThough for an acre site we signAway our daughters to $allet

7here no fishermen light their stovesAnd we weigh so lightly what we save7ere the $uoy on the rocks in the cove7ere waiting, waiting for the waves

/coast of South Africa, around the +ape

of Good 'ope into prevailing westerlies Can ideal situation for the wave

formations of staggering heightsdisputed long into whiskey nightseave local conditions and warm

currents aside, take a trip

deep inside the Antarctic +ircleto the ice($reaker Caledonian $tar

that found itself among storm wavesand .e$ruary weather, that faced a wall

of water a hundred feet highand a huge trough opening up

where the ($tarspilled into a free(falldriven $y gravity and momentum

There was an eplosionof salt(water on the $ridge

of $ooks and cushions,the helmsman and first officer

were thrown on top of each other,radar, gyrocompasses, sonar,

a?ua sounders and radio all knocked out'um$ling, $ut the engine still workedso they were a$le to face the waveshead on, and steer to calmer waters

'ere, on the Draupner Oil 9ig,in the middle of the


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O

*8

The Glass

!ts minus three inside Kwind chill factorL'is shakes are real 'e is no actorto audition for this muted roleto stare into the glass and see it full


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1:

Ba$es in 7e$land

ay with me on my sleeping couch foreveringer a while as ! copy and pastecheerleaders, sleepovers, group pleasures

Good things come to those who wander and waitfor the walkers of a million circuitswho like late night study dates .rench grinds too

There is so much ! could teach youhow to stake territory with your teeth,how $est to avoid stains on your $riefs

'ow many angels can dance on a microchip

proud of their emergence,well(groomed, sleek>

!ts not for money you come in your simplest form

of @eroes and ones

un$idden,naked for adorationyou demand $ut lack

Shhhhh Muiet onscreenEoure almost too old at thirteen$ut precisely what ! want to see"

a *D you for me

in a matching satin set like 'ayleys4y finger runs $lack

*-Time for the nests of summer ducksto free@e


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1;

Streetwalker

7%hrough accident the shoe of an Athenianstreet"al'er has been preser*ed# On the sole,

nails for the "ords (Follo" 8e., as she "al'edalong inthe soft dusty streets of the city#9

Fernando 5enri:ue, )rostitutionand $ociety

Shes in the scuffed(up dust of soles,the thrust and stamp of soldiers $oots

whore weighed upon $y victorys loot,in the teeming ruts of peasant cartsthat tum$le($ump their wares to mart,$y $eggars $roken, thread$are sandals

'er fragrance is of crisp and freshstraw unpressed $y $odies or sweat! stare at windows a$ove my head,consider how she may $e dressedor undressed, looking at me, alone,at home, or in another mans $ed

! know not the sound of her voice,her demeanour of face, whethershes a slave or does this $y choice"%ust the si@e of her foot, her in dust

!ts lightly she lifts each step,unconscious as $reath after $reath

'er trail turns cold when ! least epect!m led once again to a co$$lers doorwhere he claims amnesia of hairand shoulders, the length of her lim$sSandman, you know your %o$ $ack to front,you see the reverse side of things"

*/

oveAfter the gentlest love(makingand ritual cigarette you whispere.*e ne*er seen a sunrise together

Theres more than an hour to goand ! know a lot can happen


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how often you poke her

its knowing when to ignoreand when to stroke her

and to poets

there are somewho use a pento cure a scratchin their parts

there are otherswho smooth and oiltheir pens $eforegoing up the arse

1*

9ogue 7ave

7;ou feel as if the end of the "orld has coe#9Capt# !ai !a*ies, sal*age e


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In 1=32 boo'binder +ichard $ith had fallen intodebt# 5e and his "ife, &ridget, 'illed their t"o-yearold daughter before hanging thesel*es#

6overtys rags are pitiful as our ta$les fareof stale $read and turnips, soup of water7e have watched the flesh melt from our daughter


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carried on an angels wings,and the $lue patterned crossas a $ird flies to paradise lost,

the lost and found of things

5-

!tll $e worth the effortto see the $edclothes $illow,puffed full of new gusts, fresh

!ll watch the wisps rise in a sweat,those old ghosts of our sorrowseorcised $y the rising sun,

and one, %ust one, promiseascending to this endThat PLo*e "ill tear us apart.,

my lover andsoulmate, comrade,friend


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5/

into a dusk that grows $efore my eyes my handwithdraws from the receiver ! replace as your lipsclip a good$ye, where it shuddered to land

less than a minute ago" ! recall how, in 0oeys car,it clutched the seat 'e was so kind to give me a

liftand introduce me to =mma, the most $eautifulheart

! was trawled from the deep $y a peak of her lace,a net white as the chokers adorning a summer$eachof sea(froth, cockles and pearls, undulations ofspace

'er lim$s sure rhythms make me feel free, notguiltyThe right trickle of words ena$les my handsto $rush away your we$, and feel with clarity

the landscapes and compacts she creates withsand,the hourglass ! sing so highly of Sometimes,


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! $elieve ove comes clean, glowing and tanned

)10uly *225

Set in 15 Q *2 pt Garamond

The moral right of the author is asserted


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and the

Deep BlueSea

AlanGarvey

The Devil & the Deep Blue Sea chapbook - Alan Garvey.doc

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