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The Whiteness of the Whale

from Call Me Ishmael; volume 4 by Patrick Shea

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lyrics

Chapter 42: The Whiteness of the Whale

A study in white
Surrounds every taker --
Imperial blight,
Terrifically pure.
Desolate glaciers found at great heights,
Cold and unloving in the next life.

With every color
Layered in turn,
The sum of creation
Is empty in full.
Pure in its essence, but a nothing.
Are we perspectives on a nothing?

In death, the body's pallid --
As spirit drains away
The vessel’s overflowing.

A color to mask
Each kind of decay --
The specter of white
Implies every corruption.
Purity's nothing but an absence.
Cleansed of the human, now an absence.

In death, the body's pallid --
As the spirit drains away
The vessel is overflowing.

© and ℗ 2010 Patrick Shea

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from Call Me Ishmael; volume 4, released January 1, 2010

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Patrick Shea Brooklyn, New York

Patrick is a nerd, a book lover, a math afficianado, an Ishmael, and an Ahab. He lives in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn with his wife and two daughters. He grew up in Portland, OR; and has also lived in Grinnell, IA (for college); and Austin, TX.

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