. . . auction

one sketch
of the stormy
petrel

one set of clothes
not to be worn
during the voyage

one log
of the harm
that came

you
miss
a man
so much


music
for Haul
On the
Bowline

slop
chest

small
stuff

prayer
book

Green-
lander
with
a stitch
through
his nose

coin in
his mouth

his custody


broken
holy
stone
at feet
sailmaker
stitches you
inside a sail

last to
touch

your craft


slipped
starboard

pig
on
foot
does
no
good

to stay afloat
to assure
identity


one pot
of ink

one paragraph
on a miscellaneous
custom


quit
the
American
shore
quit
the
shore
of Green-
land


miss
a man


pot of
wood ash

box
of blank
cards

beef bone
sculpture
deducted
form
wages
what
you
bid

seldom
mentioned
in leisure

his form
forecastle
slip


cliché
poor guy . . .

the oath
and the laugh
boom

skylark
flicks a card
in another’s
face

Copyright Credit: Stacy Szymaszek, “. . . auction” from Emptied of All Ships. Copyright © 2005 by Stacy Szymaszek. Reprinted by permission of Litmus Press.
Source: Emptied of All Ships (Litmus Press, 2005)