SOMEWHERE IN LEVIATHAN
Roselyn Farren


............. It's a good thing bodies float.
On the ship the seamen prayed.
Frightened mice
don't know anything better to do
and don't know the true God
What good will praying do them?
............. Idle.

That was the last time I slept.
I haven't been able to accustom myself
to this rhythm.
It's not the easy ship-creaking of the sea,
the comfortable roll from side to side.
Not the natural clip
of land animals, the predictable clop
of one hoof after another.

............. It's all too quiet.
Where does this air bladder end?
Hey Fish -- nevermind.
....... Sound is impossible.

I heard
each sailor ask a friend
who caused the storm.
As if an accidental sin
could call for churning up the sea.
This was no accident.

See how God aids me
in my flight from His word.
I listen to silence and cannot hear the voice.

For three days now I have eaten krill.
Tarshish seems further away than ever.
Even the crying voices of Ninveh
might be better than the little air
left here.


Roselyn Farren is a Barnard College senior.