This is no humdrum
man, a Tashtego
hanging at the bow
surges with the whim
of a whale, a balancing
act of iron in flesh,
hopeful of parceling
pounds of blubber
from an ounce of
ambergris. Down in
the bellow, sailors skate
over oil-slick decks
aiming to keep a fire
contained, but
in the chase
only a harpooner
knows how to crest
the swells, the sea-saw
flux of the rises and falls.