the soundtrack of the stranded sailor

No foreign pair of dark sunglasses will ever shield you from 

the light that pierces your eyelids, the screaming of the gulls

Feeding off the bodies of the fish, thrashing up the bay till it was red,

turning the sky a cold dark colour as they circled overhead.

He swam out to the edge of the reef, there were cuts across his skin,

saltwater on his eyes and arms, but he could not feel the sting

There was no one left to hold him back, no one to call out his name,

dress him, feed him, drive him home, say "Little boy it doesn't have to end this way".

He announced their trial separation, and spent the night in a Park Beach Motel bed,

a total stranger lying next to him, rain hitting the roof hard over his head

She said "What's the matter now lover boy, has the cat run off with your tongue?

Are you drinking to get maudlin, or drinking to get numb?"

He called out to the seabirds "Take me now, I'm no longer afraid to die",

they pretended not to hear him, just watched him with their hard and bright black eyes

They could pick the eye from any dying thing that lay within their reach,

but they would not touch the solitary figure lying tossed up on the beach.

So, where were you? Where were you? Where were you?

The Seabirds, The Triffids

So much for the myth of a woman in every port