Siren Song by Margaret Atwood

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Siren Song

BY MARGARET ATWOOD
 

This is the one song everyone 

would like to learn: the song 

that is irresistible: 

 

the song that forces men 

to leap overboard in squadrons 

even though they see the beached skulls 

 

the song nobody knows 

because anyone who has heard it 

is dead, and the others can't remember. 

 

Shall I tell you the secret 

and if I do, will you get me 

out of this bird suit? 

 

I don't enjoy it here 

squatting on this island 

looking picturesque and mythical 

 

with these two feathery maniacs, 

I don't enjoy singing 

this trio, fatal and valuable. 

 

I will tell the secret to you, 

to you, only to you. 

Come closer. This song 

 

is a cry for help: Help me! 

Only you, only you can, 

you are unique 

 

at last. Alas 

it is a boring song 

but it works every time.

 

Margaret Atwood, “Siren Song” from Selected Poems 1965-1975. Copyright © 1974, 1976 by Margaret Atwood. Reprinted with the permission of the author and Houghton Mifflin Company.

Source: The Poetry Anthology 1912-2002 (2002)
 

via: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/detail/32778