The Sea Witch

Glamorous, hypnotising

she lies glittering on the rock/her throne

                    in the middle

of the

bubbling, churning tar

alluring unknowing sailors

with her shimmering tail

She beckons to them

Expressionless, Emotionless.

Desperate, burning, aching

to see her smile

the sailors sail through thick tar

bringing her treasures

which she fancies

to lock up in little metallic bubbles

in her galaxy of molasses

In the beginning

trivial treasures are what she seeks

               Gemstones

                    Silver

                    Novelties

She adorns herself

with these unfeeling beauties

and is satisfied with the tributes

for a while

But

the

black                                                                 hole

                       in    

her    

galaxy 

grows b i g g e r

                         as

yet more beautiful carcasses fill

the bubbles

Gazing at her vestigial angels

She realises what she really craves

is something real

something intangible

something bright

something

that

               r a d i a t e s

                                   L I F E

And so her sailors set sail

to acquire something corporeal

                     something ethereal

                           something auroral

                                     something with

                 a sparkle

that can set ablaze

the doom in her kingdom

Of all the sailors who ventured

out into the                     gaping

                            hellish

humanity

Only one returned

Tired and baffled

         but

with a glow on his face

       a ball of light in his arms

As he sails through the black sea

the bubbles melt

where the light in his arm

           touched

as lightly as first snow

The skeletons of the unfeeling

            treasures

                 sink

as she reaches out

and holds                light

for

the first time.