How skilfully Norman MacCaig sets the scene for the advent of the human intruders.
The seascape can be found in The Poems of Norman MacCaig, edited by his son Ewen (Polygon).
INTRUSION OF THE HUMAN
On the tiny sea, with an archipelago of two islands,
a breeze wanders aimlessly about,
snail-trailing over mucous water, depositing
small sighs on the sand.
A day for mermaids. A day for their inhuman eyes
and voices without vibrato. Shell mirrors
keep sinking from sight.
In the kingdom of fish whole parliaments are on the move
and guerrillas lurk
in the ruins and cellars of weed.
And in the history of light a peregrine
shoots from a sea cliff. Before its moment is over
a song will have ended, a flight
stall in a zero of the air.
An implacable scenario - till
round the skulled headland a tiny sail
loafs into view. And everything
becomes its setting. Everything shrugs together
round a blue hull and a brown sail. Everything's changed
by the human voices carelessly travelling over
the responding water, through the translated kingdoms.
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