WITH SHARP EARS

WITH SHARP EARS

why is there no silence?

who duffed when
the instructions coming
down from the top
could not have been
clearer
     regarding redacting
everything, turning
everything invisible,
burying, covering up

who allowed Captain
Nemo to become
my childhood hero
without
    lecturing me
on his, origins,
   explaining the true
history of
India
   and the geopolitics of
the time

making the Nautilus aa much
a weapon as a refuge and
vehicle for
    scientific investigation?

and me reading the passage
detailing Nemo’s terrible act
of revenge
    on the poor passing troopship

not seeing
     the obvious

all those drowning desperate
soldiers

sinking to the bottom of
the ocean in
their
red uniforms

for what
other colour could they
conceivably be?

silence down there too
where the
Nautilus speaks
         listens with
sharp ears