Out of my Element

Combing shadows out of place, I swim
in the uncommon medium of glass,

my drowned song split on rocks
where countless ships have broken promises.

My eyes are the memories of widows,
my mouth the empty hands of children

clutching for comfort at my leather dugs
that offer no comfort but sand.

Bottreaux bells peal far and deep
beneath my tessellated mirror, yet

my fishbone wrists conduct no music
but the unbearable noise of air.