Cormorant

Charlie Williams

The cormorant in the sun is counting off your days.

Twenty since you saw the sunrise.

Thirty since you sat through dusk.

He lifts his wing like a watch salesman opens his coat

and his many clocks drop down,

each keeping their own tally

on your days.

Fifty since you studied stars.

Seventy since you improved your freedom.

And in his eye socket he holds

the tiny gem timepiece,

counting down, not up,

ticking away with greater urgency

that you never see until too late—

days left.

One hundred since you drank from the moon.

One-twenty since you gathered old friends.

With every addition he gulps.

Don’t pretend he’s a seagull.

He’s crucified on his wind cross

stuck in the sand dune.

Your anger whets his appetite.

Sloth oils his machinery,

black wings wet and shining in the sun,

watching you lope to Golgotha.

CHARLIE WILLIAMS is a poet from Sydney, Australia, attempting to write poems that carry some transformative power for himself and others.