At this point, land disappears into a tail,
a serpent with forked tongue,
scales, eight muscled legs.
Here be the unexplained mysteries
of the universe. Here be the radiant truth
of claw and wretchedness.
Ships cannot help but sail around capes
to arrive in the mouths of beasts.
Sailors cannot escape their dark eyes.
Here be the unmappable,
the crags and cliff-faces of something
gloomy and afflicted.
Here be the stories we tell ourselves.
Here be the stories we tell ourselves
we need to survive.