Dolphins

The dolphins were in 

Each silk smooth, their heads above the water 

Bodies languid beneath 

The theatre bar full of darting eyes 

Half meant words 

The dolphins stayed put 

The seals would come to them 

If you wanted to play 

And play cleverly

Then gravity would carve its path towards them 

Without it 

You sunk 

You know so and so and so 

And so a string is pulled between us 

If you would just take the other side 

Strings web their way around the room 

Across necks and backs and mouths 

The dolphins barely sip, barely laugh 

Their clothes out of the water 

Dry and uniform in their risk 

Islands of ice float under each group of bodies 

The floor is lava 

The floor is moving alone 

The floor is being a seal 

The floor is not being a dolphin 

And the dolphins remain dolphins 

For their strings are taut and their ice is strong 

And playing with them feels like fire

It is like stepping on water 

And expecting to stand