safely through the tropic of cancer, the Amazing br Grace docked here but a moment. with black moth br puffs of diesel smoke from proud stacks painting br bold springtime sky it boldly steamed forth br br into the star-soaked south china sea, manifest br destination Elsewhere. farther south into br summer, west in day it was blown, to a tempest br of tsunami seas. there, tropical typhoons threw br br up sheet lightning strafed thunder blasted br wind. razor rain sliced down in death curtains. br like a blind outstretched bat with wings br of leather filling terror sky it parted br br him from his past. a shadowed scene br scanned in rear-view mirror, the metal fog br of his memory vanished. he was disintegrating. br alive he was, but only as alive as a lone note br br from someone strumming a banjo who cannot br be seen behind a door that blocks out light. br a time of terror to whiten even the devil, br it has no counterpart in this life, no parallel. br br like the ageless stone statues which stand in br a ring round easter island the weightless crew br stood up on deck, facing sea, wondering when br the black bat would swallow them. it withdrew, br br as if by command. then marble sky took on br luminous sheen: scrubbed, wiped, polished br clean, a crystal bowl without; within, br reflections reflecting reflected. stars glowed. br br the moon, a globular mirror, seemed open br mouth of solo trumpet seen under spotlight. br then it became a heart. pulsing light shone br around the ghost ship, opening second sight br br in the crew; hearing too. their eye br sockets became bells, ear caps coral. br in sympathy with symphony of the sky br the crew, transfigured, crossed equator.