The Why of Leviathan

by Elizabeth Barrette

The sleepy ocean rolls beneath the stars.
A galleon glides along the western wind,
Her sails and rigging taut against the spars.
Then suddenly a scraping on one end
Becomes a shudder up and down the sides,
While in the water, coils of muscle churn.
The sailors scream and flee; the monster glides
To strike the hull again from stem to stern.
With groans and spray the great ship sinks at last.
Leviathan adjusts it with her legs,
And burrows deep beneath the slanting mast.
Then in the shattered hull, she lays her eggs.
Through time, one thing remains the same, one need
That every living beast must serve: to breed.