what is it with sailors and birds?
this has been hanging around my neck
all my life
maybe it was the sailor shirt
the beak, the waddle, who can say?
the needy look in his eyes
but I crossed all boundaries,
for love
I didn’t have to — I had plenty of it
I trolled the docks every day
but nothing can match need
that sense that without you
everything crumbles
and of course
clinging need
invites inevitable destruction
his rages were, of course, epic,
monumental
they’re all there
captured on the silver screen for eternity
but not many people see the pain behind the rage
that which is beautiful and exquisite
that which could capture a sailor’s heart
if only for a brief moment
but that is all I ever asked

(The great sailor first strode onto the silver screen in 1929, a late addition to the Thimble Theatre players. With the addition of spinach, one could argue he was the first superhero. GG)

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