These two are more 'caned' (Londonese for drunk or stoned) than 'canned', but I felt that they had a charm of their own and needed to be liberated from the notebook.
It's a dark, smoky quayside bar.
It could be Dieppe, or Bergen, or Riga perhaps.
The tired and terse old herringboat captain seeks oblivion and solace in a soft warm bed tonight.
The lady has seen it all before through her tired watery eyes.
Many years before, she had been a mermaid of the oceans who traded her tail and kingdom for the love of a wayward sailor she rescued in a storm. He left her for another, without thought, without regret, and broke her heart into matchsticks. Now she sits each night in the dark, smoky bar and drowns her sorrows in the bottomless glass, still hoping for her matelot's return, or the broad valleys of coral and seawrack forever lost to her, or the quiet release of death.
4 comments:
Oh boy, I love the simplicity and charm of this drawing!
And the beautifully retold sad tale.
A beautiful combination of the text and image. Great stuff.
I love this Paul and your tales are just wonderful too :)
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