HERESIES

ODE TO THE BRINY DEEP

O Poseidon,
you wicked & wet bastard

O Atlantis,
you Arian underwater death cave

O Hassan-i Sabbah,
you who never saw the sea

O widow Cheng,
mistress of men & sea alike

O Ahab,
you holy demented cripple

O whale,
you gentle killer

O Sargasso,
final resting place
of men & ghosts alike

O Tortuga,
haven of the ragged & the mad

O albatross
around my neck

O flag of convenience

O rowing galleys
of misery & death

O Halcyone,
daughter of Aeolus
& wife of Ceyx

O shanghaied sailors
& pock-marked captains
of melancholy

O leading light
I'll never see

O my place
of birth & death alike
will be the sea.