Still Life with Mussels and Shrimps

A Van Gogh reproduction
On a bathroom wall cheers me
For ridiculous reasons.
Something in me is relieved
To be reminded failure
Is an ordinary part
Of extraordinary art.

I am immersed in failure,
Like a fish in water, or,
More appositely, a whale.
I take my meals in its depths
And surface only for words.
I've been a long time drowning.
Bone worms and scrimshaw seek me.