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The Sailor Who Fell From The Rigging
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. | 
