Slashed along the full length of the belly
with the scalpel of a medical student
the restaurant-ship was placed sideways
on the cutting board for chopping
parsley and for remembering the sea-lanes.
Its liver, its whole insides were gutted
so it could be stuffed with
late guests in a seaport town
and an occasional student who still
has not passed the anatomy exam.
That rope, at the end of each
handle of the cutting board,
holds the restaurant-ship in the harbour
with a last grip near the reflections of the front sides
of the maritime company administrative buildings