an autobiography: northwards
This is the first edition, 25th
December 2009
Published by justWords limited,
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ISBN 978-1-901382-07-5
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The moral rights of the author, Thomas Albert Fox,
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Cover illustration by Siriluck Kedseemake
From an idea by Thomas Albert Fox
The Whale
To explain the nature of fishes in craft of verse‑
And first, the Great Whale. A grim purpose is his;
Mariners often find him against their will
Floating on eternal ocean.
His name is Fastitocolon,
His coat is like rough stone,
Like a huge sea-knot of wrack, ringed with sand-dunes,
That floats by the shore.
Now when the wave-borne men trust their eyes for an island,
And moor their high-beaked ships to the fraudy shore,
Tether their sea-horses at the brink of the ocean
And roam up the island to explore:
While the keels lie at the tide-mark
The tired sailors make their camp,
They wake a fire on the Island,
Happy are the men, and tired‑glad to encamp.
But he is crafty and treacherous; when he feels
The travellers properly planted and set
Taking the pretty weather‑
Instantly down
Darts the oceanic animal,
And locks drowning in the hall of death
Both ships and souls!