1

a man
holding a torch in one hand
an owl
upside down in the other

a woman
like a figure in a masquerade
a shock
of disordered hair

my parents, 1956

2

the day is earnest
like a novel where
someone inverts an owl

3

midday:
my father wakes on the deckchair
removes his teeth

they are a strange shell
and I take them to the beach

I crawl
my gums unripe
fruit flesh
struggling to be born
I crouch in the sand
gnawing my father’s teeth

4

Venus returns to the foam of her birth
my mother
enters the water
her hair opening like the legs of a crab
a blond dandelion gone to seed

5

dusk now
my father’s eyes are closed
he rises from the deckchair
raised palms opening like stars

the rush of wings
he snatches an owl from the air

6

applause from my mother
the slap of waves on rocks

in her hand
a stick begins to burn

7

I become a beautiful man