Liber Neptuni - Chapter 51

Verses

I am the Shaker beneath your foundations; build straight roads so I may enjoy bending them.

Name your harbors after kings. I will teach the kings whose walls are temporary.

Bring me horses, bronze, salt, and the first cup poured from every voyage.

Do not bring me excuses. I invented storms and have heard better noise.

When I strike stone, springs answer; when I strike pride, genealogies become driftwood.

Odysseus learned that cleverness travels slowly when the sea takes offense.

You call me cruel because land has spoiled you with the illusion of staying still.

I do not drown men. I merely remove the agreement between men and air.

Let every sailor remember me before departure and curse me only after returning safely.

My trident has three points because one would appear insecure.

The cat in my temple refuses sacrifice and sleeps on the altar. I have postponed judgment indefinitely.

When earthquakes come, priests say I am angry. Sometimes I am only turning over.

Do not ask whether gods are metaphors while the ceiling is moving.

I bless the fountain and break the seawall with the same hand, for consistency is a mortal hobby.

If another god claims the ocean, ask him to meet me where the light stops.

If no god arrives, the ocean remains, which is almost more insulting.

Bow if you fear me. Stand if you hate me. Either posture looks small from below.

Remember: the earth is an island pretending not to be.