"Lament"

Lament

Gillian Clarke

For the green turtle with her pulsing burden,

in search of the breeding-ground.

For her eggs laid in their nest of sickness.

For the cormorant in his funeral silk,

the veil of iridescence on the sand,

the shadow on the sea.

For the ocean's lap with its mortal stain.

For Ahmed at the closed border.

For the soldier in his uniform of fire.

For the gunsmith and the armourer,

the boy fusilier who joined for the company,

the farmer's sons, in it for the music.

For the hook-beaked turtles,

the dugong and the dolphin,

the whale struck dumb by the missile's thunder.

For the tern, the gull and the restless wader,

the long migrations and the slow dying,

the veiled sun and the stink of anger.

For the burnt earth and the sun put out,

the scalded ocean and the blazing well.

For vengeance, and the ashes of language.

iridescence: a surface of shimmering colours

fusilier: rifleman

dugong: large aquatic mammal