What Song the Syrens Sang by Eleanor Brown Lyrics

I genuinely wanted them to come.
It’s most important that you understand
there was no malice in it. Only loss,
each time, and every time the loss was mine.
How could it have succeeded, otherwise?
Who embraces death on the strength of some
lukewarm invitation? No bald command,
no whore’s cold patter gets a man to toss
his life away. Accident, not design,
flooded and burst their lungs; I sang no lies.

I never lied. I told them what I’d done,
each time. But who was listening to me?
I pointed out my island’s grisly necklace
of wave-washed bones; sometimes I even cried,
sincerely, urgently, please, do not come!

On the knife horizon, the evening sun
slit his own throat and bled into the sea,
while they, the foolish, fascinated reckless,
jumped in to drown. I watched them as they died,
praying to all the gods to strike me dumb.
You understand, I had a job to do.
I did it very well – which doesn’t mean
that I was ever satisfied. It was
no joy to me to see what I desired
struggle, fail, die, drift too late to my shore.
Why should I bother saying this to you?
Because in all my life I’ve never been
heard, when I warned ‘I’m trouble.’ Or because
I want you to not come to me. I’m tired.
I do not want to do this any more.