Christening (first revision)

I.

Call it ritual send-off,
call it amulet for the soul—

the smearing
cleansing a past of fault

—breaking an innocence
at the outset, in the hope
a smashing god won't try again.



II.

Vessels shatter—
a brow whets,
lonely waves afflict the prow.

A poet is launched—
transparent love
the glass crashed without ceremony.



III.

Ships, which are always spoken of
as women, and for that matter
so is the sea.