Badger on the Whaler
Badger wants land, but his teeth
are ship’s captive in a tin. They tack
like the bowheads knocking
the boat. The captain jokes about
the cadence of corpses. Prods
our hero, So, the youngest colonel
in the army claims to be neither
honorable nor heroic? Badger
assures him his gallantry
is merely routine; he can’t stand
the roar of cannons; believes
the fatherland is only a string
of rivers that flow into
the sea. The stays are let go, the jib
flown. Badger appeals to
the captain’s humanity: I could
never forgive you, I could only
live automatically beside you. 