Sea

source: wikiart

As soon as the ship had left the harbour,

A bird stopped in the sky and blurring clouds

And said a prayer to the sea

Applauded by sunlight; flashing, blinding.

Couples drank in the small bars

In the colossal house, still soaking,

Girls gazing dreamily

At the far and wide sea.

Oh! the glimmering fish that swam so deep

And hid underneath rocks that did not move.

Cabin beds were unmade

And the sea howled its song,

Low pitched as a moan.

A door banged closed; in lower cabins

The girl waved her arms,

Understood by the sea,

And nature on land everywhere,

No chains, no bounds; everywhere, freedom.

Blood flowed in the water,

A salted abattoir, in the sea

Where windows gazed deep and dark

Blood and life merged. Currents flowed.

Mrs Smythe played jazz piano in the bar,

Whispered flirtations spread

Like the ship moving across the sea.

Romances set out. Palaces were built

In the chaos of storms of the oceanic night.

Every star wrapped up

Across the ocean wide

Shielding themselves from the bright

And the young--- glittering trance

Of burgeoning beautiful love stories.

Every morning after—it’s winter, they spoke---

Foam rolling along the decks

Lightning like cymbals, drumming thunder

Rise and fall, rise and fall

Oh! precious creatures of nautical nights!

Yet secrets hum through warmed hands

Sharing enlightenment they will know forever

But which eludes us now.