Sheenagh Pugh
He's a bone-hoard, laid
golden on the table,
piecemeal(零碎的) , dislocated(脱位的)
in the naval hospital
at Haslar, this casualty
from Nelson's day. Skull
a cup, eye-sockets empty
bezels(斜垫面) for aquamarine(海蓝宝石)
or jet. The carved vertebrae,
links in a polished chain
that has come unstrung
since, long ago, a man
fell, his limbs flailing,
in that last instant
when limbs would do his bidding,
before every joint
of arms and legs splintered
on the deck; made a patient
of a seaman. His scarred
bones were knitting together,
twisted, no doubt, awkward,
when the usual fever
sank him in the dark.
He is turned to treasure,
the ribs' symmetrical fretwork(浮雕细工) ,
the pendant(垂饰) branches
of phalanges, the serpentine(蜿蜒的) torc
two clavicles make. Riches
beyond price, broken past
restoring, such choice pieces
as cannot be replaced.