ROBERT KLEIN ENGLER

SHIPWRECKED ON THE NORTH ATLANTIC—
THE FIRST OF FEBRUARY,1826

.I.

The storm tosses us like a straw.
Our sails blow out.
Carpenters saw down the masts.
With my eyes shut, the ship slams against
the waves like a barn door loose in the wind.
Afterwards, the deck is a mystery of wires
and tangled lines—we drift for days—
it is like looking into oil—
there is the smell of tar and old fish.
 

.II.

You don't know what thirst is.
The soul shrinks, the tongue swells
to the size of a second body.
The taste of salt makes us mad.
Those who drink the sea will die.
 

.III.

Hunger grows like a wild vine.
Even our toes have teeth.
We chew on our belts and shoes.
I look at the men and see wolves.
 

.IV.

When the first man dies
we slit his throat and drink the blood.
It was thick and warm—
custard with a taste of iron.
Someone cuts off the head and hands
and throws them into the sea.
We butcher the body and set strips of meat
on the quarterdeck to cure in the sun.
This is our food—we drift for days on end.
 

.V.

When my fiance dies I drink his blood, too.
His strips of flesh sweeten like licorice
on the sun-bleached deck.
Finally we see a sail—
the H.M.S. Blonde sends over a boat.
A lieutenant is shocked to see us,
so worn, but signals his captain,
"They have yet plenty of fresh meat."
 

.VI.

I live in London now
and keep a sponge damp
for pressing to my lips.
I never married.
When the fog comes
I light a fire and stay inside.
Just the smell of stew makes me sick.
Do you think the city has enough food?
 

Robert Klein Engler lives in Chicago. His poems and stories have appeared in Borderlands, Evergreen Chronicles, Hyphen, Christopher Street, The James White Review, American Letters and Commentary, Literal Latté, and many other magazines and journals. His books of poetry, One Hundred Poems and Medicine Signs, are published by Alphabeta Press. He was the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Literary Award for his poem “Three Poems for Kabbalah,” which appeared in Fish Stories Collective 2., and “Flower Festival at Genzano” which appeared in Whetstone. His drawings appear in Black Elvis, Rio, and other e- zines. Examples of his writing are found online. His books are available through amazon.com.