I pull, I pull
it’s a starry, gloomy night
the stars gaze above my steaming head
but they don’t shine for me

while I stand at a sea
a sable, sludgy, shining sea
reflecting the stars
that don’t shine for me

I pull and I pull
something resists, the mildewed thread quivers
a hand, scar-strewn, thin and exanimately pallid
i wonder where she summones the strength

maybe I’m just a weak man
when a faint, scratchy voice calls me
among afloating bubbles
tells me to release