Tuesday 22 April 2014

The Furnace Man


The Furnace Man 
barbecues 
people for dinner
picks them up like logs 
stokes his mouth full
doesn’t have to chew 
the flames in his belly 
flicker hot and fast
vaporize the bones
until nothing remains 
no skin no eyes 
no diamond necklaces 
not even dreams. 

But one day 
the memories of the girl 
he has just consumed 
evade the heat
flip-flop in his mind
salty and fresh.
He separates them out 
from everything that burns 
and keeps them 
in the cool of his head
just behind his left eye. 

She swims along the beach 
she and her brother 
they bob up and down 
in the waves 
sink into the depths
imagine they are mermaids
shipwrecks seaweed
then the sky lifts them 
into the blue
so much happiness it brings 
this rise and fall rise and fall.

The Furnace Man 
loves the girl’s memories 
of the sea 
will not burn them
plays them over and over
until he loves her too  
and wishes she could 
be there with him. 
But that can never be 
for he has gobbled her body 
until there is none of it left 
no flesh
no eyeballs
no eardrums 
no pink fingernails 
none of it.

All he can do 
is drown 
and the salt 
cleanses the air 
the water bathes 
the red cheeks 
and the laughter rises 
from the water
like a song.


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