SWAN SONG
- Feb 13
- 1 min read
By Aidan Casey
The bonds fail that link you in
to the world. Now you scale
new heights, now you test
new lows. Take stock.
Older than you ever were,
younger than you’ll ever be,
summon up your net worth.
Multiply by zero!
Querulous, truculent,
let your talent gather rust,
set aside avoirdupois,
size yourself up for the drop:
the daredevil, nothing to it,
nonchalant, i-dare-you-do-it,
de la mort, a chanson,
a swallow-dive swan song.
Into the forge of saints!
Now you see me, now you don’t.
Deprivation whets her knives,
solitude remakes the mind;
Now melts the solid flesh,
now fails the hollow bone,
& down, down, down you go,
down to the depths below,
spiralling, signalling,
twisting through the half-pike,
spinning like a snowflake,
a kamikaze coin-toss:
the daredevil, nothing to it,
nonchalant, i-dare-you-do-it,
de la mort, a chanson,
a swallow-dive swan song!