Lessons of the Sea

One reaches a point during the maelstrom
when the rigging must be felled
to save the vessel from
the snapping mast.

There comes a time during the reeling-in
of the great catch when,
to save oneself from keeling overboard,
one must cut one's line,

and even Ahab must have learned
of futility as he drowned in the
white wale's wake.

(copyright a(scetic)verse)