The bleached is not a white
for Robert Hitzeman

SJ Fowler

the bleached is not a white whale while I remember
it is more of a yellow, a security tag for the lion gates
as it perishes it’s heart bursting in attack, the salt
water damming its arteries, the whale turns eyes down
to watch its deathplace rise into view & that’s when
the mitten crabs come with their light sacks
& televisions who can sell anything and are well aware
they might mourn the recent meat but don’t care
about that at all really for the on is on so
stop talking because they’re watching the thing

SJ Fowler is a poet and artist working in the modernist and avant garde traditions. He has published five books, the latest of which was Enemies: selected collaborations (Penned in the Margins 2013) and been commissioned by the Tate, Mercy, Poetry Parnassus and the London Sinfonietta. He is the poetry editor of 3am Magazine, is the curator of the Enemies project and works for the British Museum.