Mystery in a Boat

Robert Beveridge

I am adrift in the Sea of Virginia

my little boat The Phantom Skin

is now run out of gas

                                     All around me

are those who know more than I

do about James Dickey

                                      one (Amanda)

even lives in the house where he

grew up.

               I wonder which of them

is the Sheep-Child masquerading.

(the lamprotoxu circle the boat)

                                                       I wait

for a savior to pass

the time I play myself

a little game

                        who is

the Sheep-Child? The only

way to find out is to uncover

Him, pare away His mask

 

I lie in the boat when they find me the only survivor of the wreck of The Phantom Skin in a red lifeboat they find me and ask me who survived the wreck I say no one

Robert Beveridge (he/him) makes noise (xterminal.bandcamp.com) and writes poetry in Akron, OH. Recent/upcoming appearances in Flashes of Darkness, Fairy Piece, and Take 5ive, among others.