VI
Exchange on the Bridge
"Captain! We're passing the fathoms where
The Black Prince
went down. For reasons unknown." "Navigator Benz!
Return to your cabin and sober up!"
" .. . the fathoms where the Russian
Tzarina,
too , took the rap
and was lost .. . " "Navigator Benz!
I'll
banish you to the can!
Do you hear me?!" " . . . for reasons un . . "
The clipper's unswerving on its blue track.
Africa, Asia, The New and The Old World lag
behind . Taut sails look like question marks in profile .
Space's answer is in the back.
VII
Exchange in a Cabin
"Irina!" "Ah? What?" "Take a look at that thing, Irina."
"But I am asleep ." "All the same. Look! " "Where?" "In the porthole.
What is that?" "Looks like somebo ... like samba .. . like, well, I
mean a submarine." "But it coils!" "So what.
In
the water, all
things coil." "Irina!" "What? Where are you dragging me? I am
completely naked ."
"Yes, but just look!" "Oh stop pushing me!" "You see?" "Well, I
look . Yes, it coils. But I think-I take it-
But it's a gigantic octopus! And it climbs in here!!! Nikolai!!!"
VIII
The sea is ostensibly lifeless, yet
it's full of monstrous life-forms which your mind-set
won't grasp until you hit the king-size sea-bed .
At times, this gets proven by what's been angled
or by shimmeying waves whose rather languid
mirror reflects things happening under the blanket.
While on the surface, a man wants to sail fast and be there first
Submerged, he gets this wish reversed.
