stuck in a cabin (like Ahab)

And the ship, the vessel,
tosses back and forth,
pitching with the winds,
the temperamental waves.

And the memory, the whale,
biting hard and down,
taking part of me,
my leg into the deep.

Symbolic imagery -
Paintings real and
Imagined -
Salt in the air
Stinging my skin
The wound wrap'd
in a piece of the sail!

Ahab sulking as the ship
tosses back and forth -
the long journey home,
going to meet his wife - and heal.

Not a Warner Brothers Production,
Rather a real Ahab
Cursing and growling
and focusing his evil
onto the whale in such
a mad way that all else
is pushed aside as he
tries to rid the world
of the symbol and also
the reality...

Calm sea breeze?
Not in here,
not now,
not replaying
the Bite
- teeth not
too sharp
and yet
enough
pressure
to snap
my bones -
over and over
in my mind;
why can't I
rid myself
of that
sensation?

Will I have a peg-leg then?
Am I to be known for
having a wooden leg
forever and again?

Thinking and thinking
lost in thought
like my leg
in the deep sea
out there somewhere
now for sure
long behind us.

Or has only
a moment
or two passed?

Damn that Stubbs,
just for having
the name.

I wonder
if they know
I can hear them
here in my cabin,
just listening and
lying, with the waves
crashing against the ship
my constant companion as
the days add up.
Or at least it goes black
every now and then.
Am I to live thru this?