Ecco the Dolphin
Sega Megadrive, 1992
Ecco roves immaculate 16-bit oceans, pierces
through jellyfish sparkling their assigned scores.
Ecco rotates side on, a perpetual loading icon,
flips through scrolling screens of digital habitat.
Ecco is neat between the lines like practice
handwriting, before the dark ink overspills
the edges of its enclosure. Ecco breaks tip-ex-
white waves on the surface with a sampled splish,
spirals across the TV screen, double-clicks pixelated
fish, collides, collides with muted choruses of coral.
Caleb Parkin is the third Bristol City Poet, widely published in journals and holds an MSc in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes. Debut pamphlet: Wasted Rainbow, (tall-lighthouse, Feb 2021). Debut collection: ‘This Fruiting Body’ (Nine Arches, October 2021). Tweet: @CalebParkin