Spoil

for Linden (age 5)

Pirate galleons in purple ink
pitch and sway on a high sea,
unballasted by any stolen cargo.
Half-circle hulls innocent of embrasures
sport untorn trapezoidal sails.
A crocodile levitates
to starboard, clear portent:
Here There Be Monsters.

Each of these three ships
sails under the aegis of
its own celestial object:
the sun (an open circle),
the moon (a crescent)
& this colored-in circle stands
for the sun at night.

So what time is it? I ask,
& the artist, too young to tell time,
runs to find me a watch.