neuburg, 2019

A riverside whaler

Cries two if by sea

Though I am trapped alone

Between liberty and water

A beautiful turret

Is no strong match for

A siege of ships

Beneath the cover of nightfall

A soundless seasickness

Washes over me

A whalebone caught

Between my mouth and lungs

A harpoon pierces

All that is beautiful

I float away

Beneath the waves

All I am is gone from me

A sunken wharf or

A whale without a song

Faraway, this river leads to open ocean

Faraway, my rendered oil burns as candlelight