the spirit fish swim in the sky
some say they are the souls of drowned sailors
stomachs storm gutted on black rocks
their empty Cornish cottages let to Londoners
they fly in great shoals of grey clouds
scales glistening like a million deep sea stars
but you’ll never catch these moving rainbows
rising from the depths each time a ship is lost
born inside bubbles gurgling up gagging throats
out the gaping mouths silently screaming final breaths
a sailor’s last meal reincarnated as messenger
Neptune and Poseidon’s caves forever abandoned
from watery depths through spuming crests
the lust for the seafaring life of adventure
now turned to eternal heavenly wandering
and on a clear day you might spot them
the spirit fish that swim in the sky

Love this 🖤
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ahoy there and thank ye LC 😉
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You’re welcome as always, Capt’n 😁😉🖤
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Rich with folklore!
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I fear lockdown sea shanty mania has finally infiltrated my poetry . . !
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Ha hahaha…we’re all suffering from that.
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Wow! Brilliant! Keep on listening to those shantys if they give you poems like this…..
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Thank you Kim. I’ve been looking at quite a lot of Alfred Wallis paintings recently for an art project I’ve been working on. His fish certainly inspired this one. Glad you enjoyed.
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Reblogged this on The Cheesesellers Wife and commented:
A brilliant poem by Colin Hill. Enjoy….
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That’s very kind of you Kim. I haven’t had much time for writing recently so I really appreciate your kindness. All the best. Col.
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I’m intrigued by your mention of an art project….
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there’s a couple of Alfred Wallis / St Ives inspired pieces on my Instagram account which I’m trying to bring together into something a little larger when I get time. https://www.instagram.com/colinhillart/
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I just looked and saw a bit of it before Instagram told me to bog off…..
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Oh that’s a shame! I’ll have a word with them 😉
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I was on my iPhone browser, will go look properly on the laptop 😊
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Hi Kim, I have added the picture I was working on to the blog post 😉
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Thanks! And what a strangely evocative painting it is too.
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