Plague Of Dead Sharks

A poem by Alan Dugan

Who knows whether the sea heals or corrodes?

The wading, wintered pack-beasts of the feet

slough off, in spring, the dead rind of the shoes’

leather detention, the big toe’s yellow horn

shines with a natural polish, and the whole

person seems to profit. The opposite appears

when dead sharks wash up along the beach

for no known reason. What is more built

for winning than the swept-back teeth,

water-finished fins, and pure bad eyes

these old, efficient forms of appetite

are dressed in? Yet it looks as if the sea

digested what it wished of them with viral ease

and threw up what was left to stink and dry.

If this shows how the sea approaches life

in its propensity to feed as animal entire,

then sharks are comforts, feet are terrified,

but they vacation in the mystery and why not?

Who knows whether the sea heals or corrodes?:

what the sun burns up of it, the moon puts back.

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Poems in English 

• A Florida Ghost. by Sidney Lanier by Sidney Clopton Lanier
• A Dedication. To Charlotte Cushman. by Sidney Lanier by Sidney Clopton Lanier
• A Birthday Song. To S. G. by Sidney Lanier by Sidney Clopton Lanier
• A Ballad Of The Trees And The Master by Sidney Lanier by Sidney Clopton Lanier
• The Triumph by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Road To Ruin by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Portrait by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• Sporting Acquaintances by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Triumph by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Road To Ruin by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• Sassoon’s Public Statement Of Defiance by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Portrait by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• Sporting Acquaintances by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Road To Ruin by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• Solar Eclipse by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• Return Of The Heroes by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• Return Of The Heroes by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• Prelude: The Troops by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Road To Ruin by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• On Passing The New Menin Gate by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon

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Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

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