Reluctant Prophet    

And for example, I,
Jonah, am large
in my way. Little

by little, tooth
by tooth, the body swells;
bits fit in, the sound of

herringbone teeth;
the pieces unfold, neat
and distinct, the end

circuit leaves a handful
of shit. This—the whale's
inky body, my body

of work—a shadow
when two things touch.
We cut into the sea.

My voice an echo of
ice. We cut into
the sea. The beast's

voice: a ripple, a thigh,
the whole fleshy
fever, sextan.