Elvis Worms

by Peter Viggers

That worm in the ear
those worms of the soil
 
elvis wiggling
down in the deep
 
radiant colours
like Joseph’s coat
 
sunk five fathoms
to a sunless hole
 
feeding on whalebones
back-biting each other
 
no shore for the leaving
no star to be seen
 
ten thousand mouths
a shimmer of song
 
a whale call vibrating
in the depths of my ear
 
collapsing the space
between them and us
 
a body of water
a body of bone
 
the distance of difference
the strangely same
 
wearing their gold
a jitterbug jive
 
the brilliance of pink
the glamour of glow.
 
Elvis having a whale
in heaven below.

Note: ​the fourth species’ shimmery pink and gold scales earned it the name P. elvisi, a tribute to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Peter Viggers gained an MA in Poetry (2016) from the University of Manchester; poems
shortlisted for the Bridport Competition, the Anthony Cronin International Poetry Award and
Brian Dempsey Memorial Poetry Award; and published, amongst others, in Orbis, SMOKE,
Ink Sweat and Tears, Best New British and Irish Poets Anthology (2021).