Shrunken Head - David Hightower - Savannah - Tybee Island - nature -

SHRUNKEN HEAD


Long-armed tides pat palms
on the shores of Tybee Island
and on shores far away
as this fist-sized head,
smoke-stained and shrunken,
rests in the nest
of his own long hair.
He is oblivious to the music
of shop trinkets in the breeze
and to the tanned bodies
that undulate across white sand.
Drunken laughter stumbles
from the neon bars at night,
yet does not disturb him.
He does not wonder
at the ship lights at sea
anchored to the coming morning
or at the full moon
that strolls the deserted beach.
He stares through stitched lids
seeking again that sun-stopping moment,
violent red and suddenly still
beneath a breath of green shadows.
Captive of a transparent globe
on a shelf among rusted armor,
this sailor’s odd souvenir
nurtures a long silence.