Wikipedia Poem, No. 503

“To keep silent and act wise—still not as good as drinking sake, getting drunk and weeping” Ōtomo no Tabito

attached via ligaments
the helmsman who
helped your mother
into her tail for centuries

pairs off domestic pigeons
to brake and steer men
with vast attachments
to long lost lovers

lynch does the same
packing each scene
with centuries of fat and muscle
which formerly surrounded buried bones

the helmsman has rectrices
and is absent from the song’s brief, luminous life