Log Book Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

From a ship’s logbook
Sat on deck another long day I smelled of chippy fat
and the sweat of honest labour

The stove in the galley was oil fired but I wanted to
read a few poems before I had a shower.

The light wasn’t any good so I read a western book,
as I always had wanted to be a sheriff in Texas.

The book was good I knew the words before I read
them, fell asleep when I awoke it was midnight

I knocked on my cabin door, give roaches a change
escape; impossible long days and blithe was the sea

In the morning I was still reeking of chippy fat and it
was too late to have a shower.