Dry tears 2

From Opel: Immersion Set for Distant Shores
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Go to i. Introducion
Go to ii. The title
Go to iii. The totem
Go to iv. The far distant shore
Go to v. Driftwood
Go to vi. Dry tears
Go to vii. A circle of grey
Go to viii. To be found…
Go to ix. Information pack

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We will see now, on second reading, that the carcass is not so repugnant. By the way, the carcass does not have to be the main image for us: the word "carcass" remains strong but this chapter, in fact, is not entitled "The Carcass".

First of all, note the word "shimmers" before the flies. It's better to take up the whole strophe:

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A bare winding carcass, stark
Shimmers as flies scoop up meat, an empty way
Dry tears

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Like the two different meanings of the word "tears", the word "shimmers" can be both a noun and a verb. If it was the verb, it would refer to the carcass, which would shimmer due to the flies: one can already imagine, metaphorically, a worn-out man like Syd whose personality shimmers only because of curious people hanging around him like flies. But again it's a "first sight" interpretation, just to try to bring one's compassion to tears. Did Syd think of himself as becoming another carcass among the drowned men of Last Island? By the way, Syd cut the line "I'm drowning" from a previous version.