Edens Crest

How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnished, not to shine in use! Ulysses by Lord Tennyson Tin Man : [squeaking] Dorothy : He said "oil can." Scarecrow : Oil can what? ... [Dorothy squirts oil onto the Tin Man and his arm loosens and falls] Dorothy : Did that hurt? ... Tin Man : Well, about a year ago, I was chopping that tree, when suddenly it began to rain. And right in the middle of a chop, I rusted solid. Wizard of Oz (movie quote) EDEN’S CREST I travel only in my mind now. Packing up my cruise ship experience. I wait; I reiterate, I wait, with unhinged joint - rusty, waiting for the oil can of the tin man. A long journey’s night going in circles, on the yellow brick road. Those bricks, brittle and broken, rotting apple cores protruding from the ground; even the mad tree is bored. The sea, does she wait for me - a long lost friend? Does she perfume the long-long night with extra salt and coconut oil? Does her child kick at the waves, bored and wishful for his friends? And my garden, in which honey bees fall out of the sky, with no soul to buzz and bother. The birds flap listlessly in horror, never before missing human beings until their existence was in question. We need each other, on the balance beam, to wrestle, to teem; the muscle of golden koi exploding from a child’s eyes - the pond in Eden’s crest. Oh God, may I not freeze in time! Set this world in motion; devotion of hands, knees and fine chefs singing O Sole Mio whilst the island-ship waves its flags,* pure white excitement perhaps with a dunk of gravy and biscuit crumbs, dotting eyes as the voyage comes to an end; the pandemic lasts. 8/4/2021 *napkins