Scrimshaw: A Ship Adrift

The Peter Iredale, a British trading ship
which ran aground in 1906.
From The Flag of the World

"With the Fall of Man,
the image of God in him is darkened."

The Bones of Man and
The Wreck of the Ship.

There washed up on the Beach,
Ragged with weeds
And torn sails,

The tide red and churning pink.

The Monkey and the Man Collecting Bones
For tools, for dignity and,
most of all,
For Memory.

Sitting with the Mermaid’s
Wooden stare and
The Skin of a Tattooed Mariner.

Blue Flames and
South Sea Mysteries.

A Ship adrift
And spinning...

Through the Skull of God.