Let the Mad Dream of Sea-Things in the Bay of BengalAuthor(s): Julianne BuchsbaumSource: The Iowa Review, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Winter, 2008/2009), p. 116Published by: University of IowaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20537076 .

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JULIANNE BUCHSBAUM

Let the Mad Dream of Sea-Things in the Bay of Bengal

Seagull beaks. Spoliation. Off the bay, bowsprit fractures,

bent moon silvering the cracks.

Clouds that open like crab-claws.

Dismembering waves, maimed limbs.

Smell of citron in city markets.

Quays, crows, cockleshells.

Dead men's fingers that wash ashore,

clutch seaweed shreds, have no homecoming. The icy undertow

that dines on salted seabird bones.

Moonglint that makes of the sea

a broken machine, adagios of whale,

virgin tides of hoary brine and many

fathoms-down coral madrepore.

Green-marbled depths, fatal nadir,

octopod and pirates, cold head

quarters of kraken, dead calm.

116

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