Captain William J. Yonkers
once,
i meant to sail
the seas . . .
on
this
little
dusty boat
we'd been brave the two of us
hitting --
sea-walls ,
twenty feet high
may be more . . .
it was my boat
my wife called it : " petit plaisant "
on account . . .
the house in Hackensack,
she'd bought herself
from a French woman
it was my ship
had a small sail
for show only . . .
two wheels
more of a tug
than a thug ,
with a fancy deck
and this silly
little tuft
on top . . .
i was its Captain
and i loved
the sounds
its paddles made
churning
the cold, icy
waters
we running full steam
up the Hudson River . . .
but the truth
be told
we never left
the pier : the shores
of New Jersey . . .
lit
nights
down by
the smoked eels
docks,
i drank beer
with piss smelling sailors
and rotten
Sea Captains that
swore
like whores . . .
me ship
and i
we'd dreamed of Nantucket
and whales
- new York, may 18, 1810
photo: bijou le tord
