On Turner's "Slave Ship" Poem by Andrew Jacobson

Shackled limbs devoured by
Marine beasts in the
Thunderous waves of
Open sea
Hands strike the water
Gasping for breath but
Carnivorous birds snap their beaks
Pick with hunger the flesh of
Indistinct human forms
Clashing stains tear apart the
Bloody sky
A streak of obfuscated yellow
Ostensibly the sunlight
Shreds down the heavens onto the
Bloody seas
Light doesn't penetrate the brine but illuminates the
Rotting purple toes
Detached from bodies and
Rusted shackles
Copper shoulders
Oil flocks swarm the no longer
Palpitating flesh of the
Sick and weak
Worth a few final cents for the
Master's meat
Gaped-mouthed demonfish
Gulp waves of
Limbs hurling
Ankles manacling
Whips lashing and
In this painting of sky and sea there is no blue

And no insurance payment,
will arrive on deck, only with
Crashing Waves and
Stormy Seas, will the
Creator respond, to
immeasurable misdeeds.