Shell - Peter Hammill

Turn a card, turn a page

The action sure to start

Second-stage reaction

To illogical thoughts on random lines —

In a Borges dream we move toward

The writing of lives

Leave it out, leave it in, no edits —

With a shout, with a grin I said

It was a certainty that I’d arrive

In an Escher sketch

We walk around the drawing of lines

The character uncertainty

As he contemplates his lot

And tries to move with urgency

Though he’s rooted to the spot

On the brink, on the edge

But lately what I think

What I said escapes me

In a flash, a tiger burning bright —

Does the visionary trance obscure

The burgeoning night?

And she said «What are you doing?»

And he said «What do you think?»

Oh, no, what on earth are we doing?

The characters procrastinate

On the threshold of the door;

There’s something here that fascinates

Though the meaning’s still unsure

And the plot so thick

Is it some kind of history?

Sketch the thumbnail to the quick

Oh, even though it’s full of contradiction

Though it’s flawed in the design

This is no fiction

It’s a lifeline

Here we are, there we went, full circle

Shooting stars, heaven-sent

Turned turtle on the beach

Our shells are left behind

Life a library, like a memory

Of our ghost-written lives