IT MAY HAVE BEEN OPHELIA'S FAVOURITE JELLYFISH Poem by Silke Scheuermann

It came drifting up on the east wind
Shapeless Barely more than the question
what it was before the sea kicked out at it
and we - its allies -
tickled it with our toes

Ophelia's love for example All the wild
sports with the sea The risqué
pushing around of swimmers
as punishment for
poor self-presentation
anyone who was still alive and kicking
Not as made up as the mermaid
sitting in her glass case

Take ourselves for instance: No sea-composition we could remember
no skirt hemmed with blue strings of shells and yet -
we exist here Today As secure as on paper
instead of some island or other where
no one knows us or expects us or takes us seriously
the two strangers staring at their feet
spotting the jellyfish and thinking The world