The Pearl Fishers
“And he saith unto them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’” — Matthew 4:19
You snare great schools of men within your net,
and hoist them from their natural element.
Drowning in air too rarified to breathe,
they gasp and writhe, transfigure into meat.
And now behold the men born of that air
who dare the dark crush of the Red Sea floor:
who surface, gasping, bleeding from their eyes,
the pearl in hand, and horribly alive.Elijah Perseus Blumov is a poet, critic, host of the Versecraft podcast and substack, and Translations Editor at Literary Matters. His work has been published or is forthcoming in venues such as Birmingham Poetry Review, Image, Nimrod, Rust and Moth, Tar River Poetry, and others. He is the author of The Necklace of Harmonia (Lettre Sauvage 2026) and Against Oblivion (Measure Press 2026). You can read more of his writing at elijahperseusblumov.com.
