48°52.6′S 123°23.6′W
july i am a sailor, august i’ll be stranded
alone in blue, that desert view,
alone and empty-handed
i'll bet you'll never meet again a man so doomed as i,
sailing in white—no bark, no bite
and a tendency to lie
once the devil knows that i have given up on hoping,
i'll lie in red, far worse than dead,
as old wounds peel back open
in my delirium i'll see with my heart and not my eyes
you promising land, orange in hand
and feeding me a slice