"John Meaney - Blood and Verse" - читать интересную книгу автора (Meaney John)

Exotic fruit flavours burst on my tongue.

For a long time we sit there, side by side on our high swaying perch, simply
watching: ocean and sky; the rain and clouds; twin rows of suns. Beneath us, the
forest moves and adjusts like a single breathing, living being.

A flash of silver glints beneath the waters, far off to my right.

тАЬWhat was that?тАЭ

тАЬNot a fish. An outrider.тАЭ Shera double-blinks her corneal smartgel. тАЬA Shoal
City scout.тАЭ

Shoal Cities featured in my briefing: great ellipsoid bubble-cities that float
forever beneath the surface, following submerged ocean currents or routes of their
own devising. They are closed societies, for the most part. Few offworlders are
allowed inside, and those under strict supervision.

A Blood Poet requires creative solitude.
 тАЬYouтАЩre intending to visit a Shoal City?тАЭ

тАЬNo.тАЭ I shake my head. тАЬI donтАЩt think so.тАЭ

тАЬGood,тАЭ she says softly.

IтАЩd rather stay near you.

But I know Queen RhiannonтАЩs visit is only days away. SheтАЩll be surfacing
inside Sherkalian City boundaries, though the locals appear not to know of this.

Then, at that moment, will my poem reach its natural, triumphant conclusion.

***

тАЬSixteen bits per second,тАЭ Verse Master delтАЩKarinzo once said in a tutorial,
тАЬis the total information flow into the conscious mind. Gestalten-rich bits, to be
sure, but a millionth of the perceptions flowing into the human organism.

тАЬFor a poet, particularly a Blood PoetтАЭтАФwith an ironic smileтАФтАЭit makes
for interesting challenges, and opportunities.тАЭ

I climb downwards, following SheraтАЩs every practised move.

WeтАЩve spoken few words, she and I, yet a lifetimeтАЩs worth of interchange has
already taken place. And then, as she goes first over a broken branch, turns back,
and reaches out to help meтАФ

Electric, that touch.

There is more power in the one-second contact of her hand than in every