Such a bellow was seldom heard

To arouse the dead sailors from the gallows,

Gazing from their necropolis at the ancient masts,

Like crosses, cast against

The roof of their bastion.

The moon,

Cloaked in a black sheath,

And coiled up in the waves like crapes,

While deluges of rain sounded against the shore

And a lonesome boulder

Sits in mute defiance.

Tympans batter in the depths below,

Echo; amplify,

Upwards and upwards

A wave rears on high –

A wall of incomprehensible lightlessness,

Viper – poised, musing

Momentarily,

Confusing its stance for a flash,

A roaring crescendo of night –

Crash!

It shatters, amorphous on the vengeful boulder,

A splash of white foam,

Erupting from the darkness.

-Jefferson Davis-