Quickly suck some spaghetti into your mouth
And note how it inevitably flips against
Your cheeks, chin, upper lip whatever.
That is what ships do to water when they
Pass our island over the speed limit:
They rip the water away, haul it along the shoreline
Like Ben Hur’s horses except that
Unlike Ben’s horses, the water has to return
And does return like Pharoah’s army
To assault docks, boats and shoreline
With all the hysteria of pillaging hoards.
Why ship pilots ignore this fact is simply
A product of personal greed: they are paid for each trip.
Maybe if they had to pay for the damage each trip
They would not be so cavellier.

