Selling Rope (Swan Dive to Estuary)

As I swan dive into the estuary, the birds do not flinch at my fall They perch in the rafters, before, during, after: they do not notice me at all As I float down into the estuary, wind cases my body in cool I smell petrol fumes, see the smoke rise in plumes: the earth is one big fireball Anecdote, lie My own alibi I've been telling jokes Piled notes high My own alibi I've been selling rope As I break the film of the estuary, the seaweed submerges my form No passing cars stop, not a single jaw drops, as my wallet and keys sink before A splash all I left in the world Once held a magpie in the palm of my hand and the blood in our veins flowed faster, as I'd planned Got a heart full of love and a head full of more but a fist full of threads from the seams And I saw a smile in that beak Oh I was a bird right then, one day I will be again I've been telling jokes while selling rope to you There's no ticker-tape, no pearly gate No carnival and no parade Just one, one for sorrow