Calling all,
This is our last cry before
eternal
silence.*
In the quiet spaces between waves
the last vestiges of humanity sink,
dots, bubbles bursting in sea foam
fragile as mermaids' souls,
dashes, innumerable shafts of sun on water
Cascading to the sea floor.
Cast the net of time wider
The final chorus of lost comrades
fervent tapping of fingertips
Lingering in the swells.
. . . - - - . . .
. . .
- - -
. . .
The italicized verse is the French Navy’s last message transmitted before discontinuing Morse code in French waters. The Morse code at the end of the poem is SOS.