Clowns will play cricket
as crocodiles watch
and a Miss Lochart
will share her room
with a sad elephant

A brave captain
will leave footprints
on a burning isle
as he draws its final map
(and buries The Itinerario with all due respect)

Canals lined with tamarind
will swarm with dazed mice
and the bees
will leave their hives
to witness the deep fish
taking the air

In the high sails of ships
the body of Christ
will illuminate the clouds
and the local gods
will take their leave
as their world explodes

The remains of the dead
will drift on pumice rafts
and tame tides will be noticed
in genteel Biarritz

The ghosts of Jan Pieterszoon
and young Saatje Specx
will wonder at the darkness
of the energies spent
of the spices rich
now turned to dust

Of the second coming
of the son of the deep
who will battle the waves
as his father did
but who will die again
in a violent return

1983