after The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai
In this sea, the great rogue wave is always
about to crash, and the fishermen
in their long thin boats
slip themselves forever in its path—
and though it hangs above them
with hundreds of frothing claws,
and though they cower atop their boats,
they’ve yet to be cast off into the sea—
and the moment is forever charged
with an anticipation larger than
the highest mountain, caught in curiosity—
how will it be to be devoured?