104BLACK SHANTY

How far back

has this ship come?

Only half-

way from Erebus by the

shivering timbers

still acrid with smoke,

the prow’s sharp beak,

and that torn strip

milled from char

and shiny on an only-just-begun

to heal flank

the ribcage

speared by deep voltage

while crossing an ocean

then hauled back

hand over hand to burst

through, icebreaker

between worlds.

Only a wound that deep could reach

through cracks of fire

and time to find

the new grain underneath.