ARIA II: THE WAGON MASTER

Lieutenant Hammond, jg, US Naval Reserve,

Retired, a veteran on the old men's list.

I am thirty-six. My papers say I cannot go to war

Unless, unlikely, The President himself shall call

Madmen for defense.

And yet, I am The Sailor,

My mind the sea on which, today, I sail

A prairie schooner, WSW, toward that Holy City,

Santa Fe.

My insanity, it is serene: fascination

To see the color blue, the sea, the sky

And, when most mad, those around me from the Testaments.

I had my training on the Merrimac;

I think we sank the Monitor.

This madness is divine.