A Poem by A. B. Jackson

Many Fish

The Voyage of St Brendan

A pristine windless noon. The crew leaned overboard, agog:
in water clear as glass, a vast congregation of fish. Angler,
whalefish, ribbontail ray. Clingfish, lancet, merrygold butter-
fish. Cardinal, angel pinfish, dab. Hickory, hootie blowfish,
pelican sponge. Batfish, haberdash. Bathypolyamorous eels.
Guddlefish, boop boop, candlefish, whiff. Bristlenose catfish,
bottlenose dogfish. Diaphanous crappie, cutlass, dibble, flub.
Will o' the wisp fish, ghoul, scoobfish, pouting prink.
‘Aidan, write these down,’ said Brendan. ‘Spare no ink.’

A. B. Jackson was born in Glasgow and studied English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. His first book, Fire Stations (Anvil), won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection in 2003. In 2010 he won first prize in the Edwin Morgan International Poetry Competition. His second collection, The Wilderness Party (Bloodaxe Books, 2015), was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. His third collection, The Voyage of St Brendan, is published by Bloodaxe in June 2021. He currently lives in Leeds.