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.