FIRST COME FIRST SERVED
by James S. Dorr


Water erupted beneath Pequod's keel 
as Ahab found, not the white hump he sought,
but tentacles, writhing, reeking with whale's blood,
a great horned beak that snapped masts like matchsticks, 
as,
out of the ice-black depths of the sea 
emerged the Kraken --
creature of Maelstrom --
still hungry for flesh and bone.

("First Come First Served" originally appeared 
in PENNY DREADFUL, Midsummer 1998)