Queequeg

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Rewrite of an older piece

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~ In memory of Herman Melville, who lived a similar darkness to my own ~

The day star hisses,
Kissing the cold Bering Sea
As the sky blushes crimson rouge.
How many suns have set on the big blue ...

Finding the hand lance still in my clutch?
How many breaches have been hailed,
(Heart catching in my chest,
Blood coursing fire,

Throwing arm in a twitch),
Only to be put asunder?
One spout even washed the ship's side!
We could have taken her clean and dry ...

Without as much as putting longboats to wake,
Yet the order given was "Sail on!",
All for the sake of a bedlamite's obsession.
Now I watch one more sun daub the horizon ...

Milky Way washing up the eastern sky,
Polaris winking its steady gaze hell-ward,
As if to mock our empty holds and pots ...
No rattle of the fin chain or sweep of the mincing knife,

No tangy odor of the blubber ovens,
And not a drop of blood to whet a single harpoon,
(My lance always first to find purchase).
I shall put to hammock this night with a prayer for my kin,

And an oath to my mates, that we survive ...
For we are now at the mercy of madness,
And on the elusive, deadly trail ...
Of a white, finned demon.

~ Honorable Mention ~ in the "Completely Your Choice 6, Any Form, Any Theme" Poetry Contest, Brian Strand, Judge & Sponsor.

~ 1st Place ~ in the "Your Favorite Legend" Poetry Contest, Chantelle Anne Cooke, Judge & Sponsor.

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