flying over the blue desert
separated by oases
small dots in a vast expanse
between peoples and tongues
everyday the merchants of commerce
traverse this desert
compelled by riches and fame
we still find these yearners
and journeymen
at the bottom, laden with earthly treasure
and their stories
little did we know they’d been recruited
for their demise! and the crew
of a phantom ship
the SS Ourang Medan
a short lived journey from china to costa rica, the ship still milling
about south of the marshall islands
unable to find their way
ghastly smiles, stripped of all flesh
they sit in the spots where they last sat
and take on crew as they see fit
every now and then a ghost
from foreign ports
makes their way aboard
no chatter aboard this ghost ship
