The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Alan Garvey

'ere a tailors scissors, snip snip" here the paper people holding hands cut from sheets, sweat(silhouettes

Bad Boy
after a painting by Eric Fischl Open callipers measuring degrees of truth, knees yawning instead of mouth, wound wound round me, noose loose as the satin slip that fell from your shoulders, youre so cool, cool as the air conditioners monotonous tune The hot notes rise, fingers pass from clef to clef, ! take my first step, paw the rumpled notes" they reek of others sweat #ids play $all and %ump through hoops &enetian $linds, this rooms split in two Theres so much to do, so much to touch !ts easy and warm in the dark, Gordian knot To taste you must $reak

)*

+ontents
+roan ,odge .ishermans Grove / 0udge These Books 12 /311 11 A Toast 1* 4y .ingers Direction 15 ,ove 1) The 6light of a 7riters 7ife 18 The 4arital 9apist 1The Glass 1: The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 1/ ,ife 4odel *2 6erfect Day *1 A leap of faith ** Take a step $ack, or two *5 +aterpillar *) +hick *; Ba$es in 7e$land *Streetwalker */ The 4elting 6ot 51 Daisy 5* 9ogue 7ave 55 <o ,onger <ew 5=nd 5: ,ast +all )2

Bad Boy )*

as a paupers pocket, worn as the phone kiosks handleA its door swings to the touch, glad to $e rid of us This phones familial, it knows this call will cost neBt to nothingA no arrangements, no future to talk of, no kisses to $low down the line Our last words are fingers drumming a desk or counter in time As ! walk )2

,ast +all
7ould you decipher these skies for the lines that led us here, find meaning highlighted $ut anchorless as cloud(puffs> The signs are clearer to divine, our skys emptied its cumulus $aggage, the ?uick strokes of cirrus oars sfumato in receding tides of you and ! .inally, ! slide the door shut on the seaside flat where we made love Outside, like hundreds of clock hands, a murder of crows spin overhead, ashes spiralling in the sun falling down on our days, on a miniature $attlefield where we raised arms too vain and young to $e entrenched in <o 4ans ,and, dying cratered $y each other Bar$ed wire kisses snarl on our calves in memory of so$s and crying <ow ! s?uee@e two coins with the same intent we had" to imprint on the other counterfeit values and designs That passions spent

Guess your dreams always end They dont rise up %ust descend 0oy Division, Insight

4ay$e tomorrow !ll wring my hands raw, shake loose the drops like dead sycamore leaves, palms cracked and $lustering in the space that was you

=nd
<ow is the time to turn the machines dial to the highest setting, for the dyes to run in the ?uilt we stitched for years together, sometimes with silk, often with cotton, denim and wool, sometimes with leather <othing is more touching than washing clean the colours of memoryA tear($lack, sunflower(yellow, the sleepy sunset of your hair shared with a pillow

5:

+roan ,odge
On August 30th 2001 in Croan Lodge, Clon el, !eirdre Cro"ley "as shot dead by her father, Christopher, before he turned the gun on hi self# On arrival there was no thaw <o o$vious reason to withdraw from sight <o ?uestions asked though she was seen once or twice ,ast <ovem$ers ice remained on the doorstep !t wasnt easy to keep to yourself She was too young for the school a hundred yards down the roadA the ,oretos red %umper, white $louse, green pinafore not skirt !t must have hurt to keep the curtains closed $ut no one was allowed pose a threat

A false name was $illed for milk, groceries paid for $y cash not che?ue She may have asked for a satellite dish, her +hristmas wish your something to muffle her cries, to keep her from outside Swallows are still here Summer $eats the +omeraghs drums Two years on the run slip $etween someones teeth Theres the knock on the door and the grief a few words impart -

it was the sea she worried over &ery often it was the wind in her mind that would sweep me off my feet to the undiscovered country But, oddly, hurricanes of seventy knots or more topple waves, even flatten them, whereas rogues are vertical, domineering like the +liffs of Dover, a chalk that scri$$les over everything on the $lack$oard and turns $lack into white ! can only imagine how it felt on deck, or in the crows nest of the Caledonian $tar, $ut then ! think of how ! fell into you 'ow could ! have seen, even in the churning advance of previous waves, you looming>

5;

This would $e nothing out of the ordinary, love C yesD !ve $een there $efore Eou could have written %he Little &oo' of Chaos Eou needed no advice when you told me in the pu$, the moment ! knew that the $a$y was the wave and the trough was you But, like the Caledonian $tar, my engine kept turning over, it did not miss a $eat So that, shaken and stirred, ! pulled through <ow !m $ack on my feet

.ishermans Grove
!ts open arms at the 'aven 'otel !ts safe $ehind tall $lack railings <o one minds anyones failings 7hitewashing their cottages well 4orning mows the grass on fairways ,eaves are $rushed from the gutters The streets are swept %ust twice a day <othing interrupts the swinging putters Dunmore =ast is this select you see All our canines $ark in pedigree But we are of no different kind

Our homes no middle(class clichF Though for an acre site we sign Away our daughters to $allet 7here no fishermen light their stoves And we weigh so lightly what we save 7ere the $uoy on the rocks in the cove 7ere waiting, waiting for the waves

/ coast of South Africa, around the +ape of Good 'ope into prevailing westerlies C an ideal situation for the wave formations of staggering heights disputed long into whiskey nights ,eave local conditions and warm currents aside, take a trip deep inside the Antarctic +ircle to the ice($reaker Caledonian $tar that found itself among storm waves and .e$ruary weather, that faced a wall of water a hundred feet high and a huge trough opening up where the ($tar spilled into a free(fall driven $y gravity and momentum 5)

There was an eBplosion of salt(water on the $ridge of $ooks and cushions, the helmsman and first officer were thrown on top of each other, radar, gyrocompasses, sonar, a?ua sounders and radio all knocked out 'um$ling, $ut the engine still worked so they were a$le to face the waves head on, and steer to calmer waters 'ere, on the Draupner Oil 9ig, in the middle of the <orth Sea, the pro$a$ility of a wave thirty metres high, even among an average of twelve, is so minute it should only occur once in every ten thousand years Seven winters ago, on <ew Eears Day such a wave hit this rig, even more unusual

/311
6G,, .9O4 G9OG<D H=9O A +9OSS

O< 7'!+' EOG 7!,, <A!, T'= 7'O,= 7O9,D

Eou share the sun and wake with dawn Eour petals echo through churchyards, the tum$ling verge and s?uare(cut lawn

11

Daisy
i# # Lucy )artington, a *icti of Fred and +ose ary ,est Sleep in shadow of yew and gorse, in earth turned $y worms and spades, in foBgloves reach $eneath windmills $lades

5*

4y .ingers Direction
%he distraught other of a 12-year-old girl "ho is ha*ing a relationship "ith a an aged 22 described her anguish yesterday at the police.s inability to act# %he Independent /0121023 Boys ( theyre animalsD

gleaming pustules fit to $urst all over your developing $reasts 7e put our heads together for little tIte(J(tItes ! leave decisions to you as !m sure you know $est .ollow my fingers direction !t was meant to touch 'eaven Eou were never taught to $eware of men with pinstriped chests #eep hush, let the murmurings $low over like dandelion seeds soft as our $reath

what seems to $e undisguised lust must in your eyes $e unre?uited love that sings !t must $e love for a message so simple its messenger need not $e seen" for when ! wake and ru$ my eyes clean ! find grains of her in forgotten dreams

15

52

The 6light of a 7riters 7ife

Eou know his note$ooks will always $e $igger than you and a $ackyard of crows,

nettles, the da@ed and highly(strung swallows Eouve no time to think as soap $u$$les sink down the plughole 'es in the $asement, cellar $eetles for companions, ranks of $ottles his home$rew $attalions The voice of your mother ?uivers in August trees !ts natural to spend time on your knees Bottles are $i$les to him 'olding forth, his right el$ow a lectern, he delivers a sermon spanning hand and mouth recalls days of promise and romance, money would $low in with the $ree@e The two of you were learning to dance Then the notes and letters he wrote you folded, a flotilla of paper $oats They were sold down the river +rease after crease led to crows feet Eou took on water though destined for the high seas, lightning in sheets <ot some stagnant pond in a city park where mallards shelter in $roken reeds from light grey dri@@les, the drops to dark 18 as a thong to the small of your $ack ! am the king si@e ?uilt, plumped, on which you sit Eou invite me, all hot and soapy in the shower, to smile as steam rises from your *5(inch waist 7e meet on a $each, skinny(dipping, no foreplayA my hand holds $ack what you have to say Transcendence of fleshD 4all rats may $e pure wish Stars twinkle $efore they fall ! am the dark +onstellations weep through my palms ! the churning sea" you the grains of sand So shine, certain of what you are, though you go the way of others 4y fingers $rush away time 7rinkles C crows feet C sag of $reasts C ! do not want you close to me Decay is on your $reath

*:

The 4arital 9apist

after an installation by &rian 4ennedy 6ro$lems of consent can $e hammered out on our anvil of gold you do know ! love you he asked

+hick
Are you not eager to fly> +liff(dweller, are you afraid of the %ade waves froth or the cold height of the drop> Or is it the tarnished pewter of sky>

1-

*;

%heirs the e pty flapping hands %heirs the eyes scratched by sand %heirs the un ar'ed gra*es %heirs the pebbles and stones ground and "orn by the busy "a*es

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

i# # F# &# Dunmores cliffs are dangerous All it takes is one $lasted gust to snap your sunny cliff(top walk the way <ovem$ers frosty fingers crack the $rittle stalk Southeast wind whistles in your ears and drowns the Buddhist drone of $ees !t whips the verge of fur@e and $riar, whips them to lift their maces higher and plunge their spikes into your knees Grass springs $eside the path up top Blood(red stone runs down the drop and 'eaven is only a lonely footstep away This is a haven of a placeA the $lackened $oulders do not waste as they shatter hulls of wood and steel and whisper Lea*e this beaten earth Far better to li*e a ong seals for the *ast openness of ocean is theirs by right and birth

+aterpillar
Black and am$er striped, string of traffic lights, ?ui@ whether to speed up or slow down Tawny and fair haired, ! watch you oo@e sinuous moves, humps ripple from the tip of your tail to whiskey snout 7hat $lades can evade your mouth> Gu@@le your way through the greenD !rresisti$le $efore your

1/

coat moults you curl in shapes ! cant put my finger *)

6erfect Day
To die Sunny day comforted $y trees Smiles At ease with sea and sky ,ook the sun in the eye and say So $eautiful Thank you ,iked $eing

*1

A leap of faith
is all it took, one last look at a too, too solid ground where ! found a sea(purse, small and $lack as a nugget of coal !n all pro$a$ility a gull could have discarded it there $ut ! can $elieve in a wave propelling itself that high up a cliff, its cargo destined for discovery at that moment $y my feet A sea(purse full of change for me, an egg, an idea, a gift from the sea

**

Take a step $ack, or two

,ook up to the sky and down to the sea Ask yourself 5o" are they reflected in e6 %he churning, the s"ell, the lash and the spray %he hango*er of grey, its pinpric's of rain, %he clouds shifting, re-shaping, being blo"n a"ay# See the pier, cupped as a mothers wing, the $oats huddled $rave as pufflings, the trees C spring is $eginning so some still are $are ,ook to the houses and whitewashed hotel, the ivied church C a line files in there Before you %ump think of all the people who live and love there, this islands patchwork crew who hoist its sails and rigging, $end their $acks everyday and mean so very much to you Breathe in deep <ow Take a step $ack, or two

*5

,ife 4odel
,ith e*ery "or' that.s born you die a little# 6rimo ,evi, %he ,or' Eou know ! cant hold this pose for much longer 5old still, you say, in the cur*e of your ar lies an alphabet of usculature# %he silhouette of your hand.s the na e of a lo*er 4uted, ! $ecome an inanimate o$%ectA light $ul$, socket, eBit sign downstairs ! pretend youre not there ! meditate on negative space ! am a frame, a wall on your canvas watching paint dry Eour mine of diamonds and %ade ! cannot dieA ! fill your $lank page on which, pink and freckled lim$ from lim$, ! dare to show the purity of $one C my vision swims C ! feel myself at home

*2 or tongue on ,et me try at least someA crooked finger egging me on, fu@@y heart, ?uestion mark, dou$le(u watching, waiting to take wing Eou are so many $eautiful things 4ust ask why, on this first day of Octo$er, youre hugging the $ed, ?uilt(snug, all legs> *8

The Glass
!ts minus three inside Kwind chill factorL 'is shakes are real 'e is no actor to audition for this muted role to stare into the glass and see it full <o dust or fingerprints hugging its rim $ut rich and red, dusky with promise for him, no co$we$ heavy across its mouth, no cries no so$s no strangled shout

proud of their emergence, well(groomed, sleek> !ts not for money you come in your simplest form of @eroes and ones un$idden, naked for adoration you demand $ut lack ShhhhhD Muiet onscreen Eoure almost too old at thirteen $ut precisely what ! want to see" a *D you for me in a matching satin set like 'ayleys 4y finger runs $lack Time for the nests of summer ducks to free@e <ow you $ed down in dreams to grow your own oasis of palm trees $etween the yellowing leaves of his $ooks *-

1:

Ba$es in 7e$land
,ay with me on my sleeping couch forever ,inger a while as ! copy and paste cheerleaders, sleepovers, group pleasures Good things come to those who wander and wait for the walkers of a million circuits who like late night study dates .rench grinds too There is so much ! could teach youA how to stake territory with your teeth, how $est to avoid stains on your $riefs 'ow many angels can dance on a microchip

whore weighed upon $y victorys loot, in the teeming ruts of peasant carts that tum$le($ump their wares to mart, $y $eggars $roken, thread$are sandals 'er fragrance is of crisp and fresh straw unpressed $y $odies or sweat ! stare at windows a$ove my head, consider how she may $e dressed or undressed, looking at me, alone, at home, or in another mans $ed ! know not the sound of her voice, her demeanour of face, whether shes a slave or does this $y choice" %ust the si@e of her foot, her in dust !ts lightly she lifts each step, unconscious as $reath after $reath 'er trail turns cold when ! least eBpectA !m led once again to a co$$lers door where he claims amnesia of hair and shoulders, the length of her lim$s Sandman, you know your %o$ $ack to front, you see the reverse side of things"

1;

Streetwalker
7%hrough accident the shoe of an Athenian street"al'er has been preser*ed# On the sole, nails for the "ords (Follo" 8e., as she "al'ed along in the soft dusty streets of the city#9 Fernando 5enri:ue, )rostitution and $ociety Shes in the scuffed(up dust of soles, the thrust and stamp of soldiers $oots

,ove
After the gentlest love(making and ritual cigarette you whisper ,e.*e ne*er seen a sunrise together Theres more than an hour to go and ! know a lot can happen

*/

$etween now and then ,hat6 Eou ask, as ! murmur a poem or two <ot much, eBcept for the pillows dip, the inevita$le tilt as your eyelids are first to slip into sleep and dreams of sunshine $reaking the deep where $alls of twine unravel and $ounce $etween a kittens claws and teeth and the $uds outside unfurl into leaf

to see Kfor the sake of modesty C three fathers would see you $urnL you steal undercover of shru$$ery !n a cafF later, you cant $ut stare down your waitresss un$uttoned $louse The girls are soft in here, white(cotton wrapped, smooth as hotel pillows Sisters of 4ercy indeedD Spirit shifts to see crum$s flicked, cloth $illow and lift

1)

The 4elting 6ot

Eou cant resist, well, ,ots wife looked $ack for less, Gomorrah going down Shock is three sirens on the rocks Their towels slip" you stiffen(crack One, the wenchD turns

51

A Toast
to fe inists its not how hard or

how often you poke her its knowing when to ignore and when to stroke her and to poets there are some who use a pen to cure a scratch in their parts there are others who smooth and oil their pens $efore going up the arse !ts easy to reflect on calm days when the landscapes colours diffuse and the air thaws and softens in <ovem$er with the dew, on a fishermans tale a$out the one that got away, or the one that let him get away, and how, having no proof of its si@e is powerless to convince $ut must remain aloof from criticism of those who were not there 'e must $elieve his own eyes and heart, the hands that struggled not to $e lost in the intangi$le, that which cannot eBist, the nothing which punched an arch like an oBy(acetylene fist through the hull of the Energy Endurance <othing took the $ow clean off like a hand slap across the face of the Atlas &ridge <othing smashed a hole in the 8i osa.s side(plating you could drive three dou$le(decker $uses through <othing like you But all this takes place near the Tropics where, naturally, everything speeds up, and those tankers took advantage of the Agulhas +urrent, whose velocity of eight feet per second rushes down from the !ndian Ocean along the eastern 55

1*

9ogue 7ave
7;ou feel as if the end of the "orld has co e#9 Capt# !ai !a*ies, sal*age e<pert

0udge These Books

In 1=32 boo'binder +ichard $ ith had fallen into debt# 5e and his "ife, &ridget, 'illed their t"o-year old daughter before hanging the sel*es# 6overtys rags are pitiful as our ta$les fare of stale $read and turnips, soup of water 7e have watched the flesh melt from our daughter <eedles to $ind vellum darn clothes while this towns dirty looks %udge these $ooks $y their covers Theres nowhere to play in a one(roomed house, %ust corners for a dog and cat, the mouse hole we call a $ack door <othing falls on this floor $ut mud from the soles of our $oots <ear$y, merchants order lawsuits whose stitches are gold" their needles eyes are run through and through $y lies $ut ! can $elieve in the $ooks ! sewA the suns free gold, the smell of $aking dough, the rains sweet music writ upon a fence The love of God is here, a sense $eyond our frail ken 'e knows how the wind $lows and when ,ast night they hung three thieves on Gallows 'ill The cries of our child miBd with sparrows shrieks as they fled trap and scaffold to the mill 4ine ink runs short 7e have nothing left to sell !f thee have charity, wish us well as our souls heave

in untimely flight from this world to Gods Grace and ,ight 12 we were given the chance to record it Since then we in =ngineering monitor the seas surface, and make a radar map $y $ouncing electronic signals downwards and timing how long they take to come $ack up The ,inear 4odel we use to predict the $iggest wave you can meet tells us there is a limit to how $ig a swell can $e ( in any condition, and that mariners tales of monster waves that come out of nowhere must $e wrong, a fancy, false as the $u$$les in cider that lead men to $elieve theyve heard the sirens song +ompare a waveNs height relative to those on either side" when the mean si@e is low the ,inear 4odel does hold true, $ut in stormy conditions where the average is a $oat($reaking twelve metres tall, freaks occur, and rise much higher 7e must turn to ?uantum mechanics where o$%ects appear and disappear according to SchrOdinger, for an answer ,inear waves we assume to $e smooth and gently sloping, undulating, passive for us to cruise and use as we see fit This is the reason we $uild ships But a wave can ro$ energy from its nearest neigh$ours, resulting in huge drops in the sea and an unsta$le, non(linear wave A real 0ack(in(the($oBD As a child my mother warned me

a$out standing perilously close to the edge of a pier or cliff, usually 58 One minute more $efore departure creaks and you kiss her forehead, chin and cheeks with your stu$$le

<o ,onger <ew

7eather($eaten, pock(marked, chipped like teeth tea(stained, the lip of a cup round($odied, Decem$er(smothered, lies framed $y damp sand, the pale hue of something no longer new .lung from fishing $oats sides $roken dishes $eyond repair flew through the simmering air There they turned and dived across foreign waters and lands to end as pieces in my hands Their designs never stray too far from where their owners hearts areA seedpods $urst over $lue streams $y houses $uilt with $lue $eams 7e see the familiar in trees, sycamore and $eech, a reprise of ivy choking a $lue $ough, now the hand at tiller or plough as it weaves garlands of $ows to fit the $reath of a $lue rose

carried on an angels wings, and the $lue patterned cross as a $ird flies to paradise lost, the lost and found of things 5!tll $e worth the effort to see the $edclothes $illow, puffed full of new gusts, fresh !ll watch the wisps rise in a sweat, those old ghosts of our sorrows eBorcised $y the rising sun, and one, %ust one, promise ascending to this end That PLo*e "ill tear us apart., my lover and soulmate, comrade, friend

5/ into a dusk that grows $efore my eyes my hand withdraws from the receiver ! replace as your lips clip a good$ye, where it shuddered to land less than a minute ago" ! recall how, in 0oeys car, it clutched the seat 'e was so kind to give me a lift and introduce me to =mma, the most $eautiful heart ! was trawled from the deep $y a peak of her lace, a net white as the chokers adorning a summer $each of sea(froth, cockles and pearls, undulations of space 'er lim$s sure rhythms make me feel free, not guilty The right trickle of words ena$les my hands to $rush away your we$, and feel with clarity the landscapes and compacts she creates with sand, the hourglass ! sing so highly of Sometimes,

! $elieve ,ove comes clean, glowing and tanned

Thanks to the editors By the same author !ear ,hoe*er )lay !ead

)1 0uly *225 Set in 15 Q *2 pt Garamond The moral right of the author is asserted <o part of this pu$lication may $e reproduced without prior permission %he 8arital +apist was first pu$lished in $outh"ord, the %ournal of the 4unster ,iterature +entre" Croan Lodge in %he $tinging Fly, Du$lins ,iterary 4aga@ine and %he )light of a ,riter.s ,ife in %he &ac'yards of 5ea*en> an anthology of poetry fro Ireland and ?e"foundland @ Labrador#

$pecial than's to A#&#, !#!#, A#E#, $#8c4#, L#8# @ A#O. ?# E<tra special than's to A#C#, %# 4#, C#?# @ A#,# of themselves unravelling $ack into place" theyd run for weeks !f ! leave now it would save face, ! tell you, as ! pocket your cash and tongue the remnants of your fruit from my teeth Trust me, ! was always $eneath

'orn 6ress R12

)5

The Devil

and the Deep Blue Sea

Alan Garvey