XV. Footprints.

 

They met once

before

 

and now again.

 

here, as new people

on a sandbar

where seashells

ocean waves,

survivor

and troubador serenades

mix

to conjure that

which is envied

above

and below.

 

They each find self

in search for each other,

Two pair

of footprints

now

meandner,

overlap

loop,

entwine,

And parallel

over wet

and dry sands,

in and out of surf,

telling their tale

for all to see.

 

 

The End.

X. Maroon

“Jetsam”

Limp, exhausted,
she washes in,
with the incoming tide.
Along with debris from her raft,
and self.
She wakes
from the scrape of beach sand
grated against her cheek.


He stares out
At the water,
it is crystal clear.
His makeshift ship,
To his back,
on it
he considers attempting
to set sail.


She now learns to walk
on land
and to comb sand.
She is not the one
who left shore
so long ago
–this creature who grits teeth,
And holds in
air,
and twists legs into tail,
and arms wrestling waters
And demons
Of mind, air and sea.


VIII. Scent

Scent
The boar sniffs

out the resting specimen
Before her
She knows
but mouth
Remains still
Nothing of interest
Here


SHe wraps herself in layers
Knowing she is not a lie
But knowing
Demons ready to attack
Do not care

Doubt tenderizes
The heart
Of a snack


Lullaby
She sings a whispered

Lullaby
To her love
Then wraps arms
Around self
And says

“goodnight”


Clear

Crystal blue
Under water
See the sea
Inside each
Real

Entitity


Traps

Everything is not
A trap
A bag
shoes
a coat

are not an escape route
not held against will,
only in ones mind
are made
friendships
and acquaintances
bait

to confinement


Near
she cannot be near him
like
she cannot be near her.


Demons circle

by nightfall
feeding on the lore
and lies
and dance on
imagination

turning their victims,
who will
become the very lore and legend
grown and children
dread…


They sharpen their teeth
and wait

for cues
from demons
supreme
to cut and saw and invoke
illiciit fears
not said

but known
do not think,
and one will be safe
from demonds all hungry
giddy
to feast.


“Regret”

Is this your lonely too?
she asks her love,

gazing at the stars.
and like you, I regret,
but I do not regret you,
or anything about you.
and I never will, love.
Another day,
same confession.


Thinking has returned to torture
Stars helped
Somoe
But where they were headed
She knew naught
But still she followed


ONe must be mad
To sail the sea
Or else become so
Watch

And see.

SHe misses,
So tears now endless

Sick of wait,
Wait,
Waiting,

Whiel she sails,
Sailing,
how cuold the sea be so vast?

On island,
Alone
He waits.
The ocean calls,
Telling him of

Something different.
Sailing is an option,
He has been

Again
Considering.


Submission

Lethe rains came again,
Soaking.
Breaking up the monotany, and
Soaking.
“THis rain will end”
She yells
Definantly
Into the wind,
As she steers her raft.
And it did end,
2 weeks and 2 days later
But first creatijng tidal waves
To beat

Tired seamen
Into submission.


Despite will poser
At deepest depths,
Fathoms below
And moutned pressure about
Makes memory slow
Clouds vision
Creates whirlpools of verrtigo
Pullling dow,
Jetisoning sailor.


Overboard,

Without air,
For mmemts like hours,
No sound,

Then muffled,
Blaring,
Rushing waves


Deeper

Heart pounding,
Warped,

Pressure mounting
Arms spread,
Searching in sweeping motions
Through currents
Reaching for up;
Outlet,
Swept down

Currrent,
Deeper, down,
Darker,
Light above,
Pale, fading,
As she drowns.


Focus
Her eyes flash black,
In and out

Focus!
Breathe!
But breath is not an option
In this wet midnight.

And yet,
Her lungs expand,
In and out,
Her limbs outstretched again moving
Meeting water
Submerged

Synching with waves
Mouthless
Breathing in.


Testing
Waves crashed and tumbled
An insignificant

Foreign body
In the depths

Of the deep


Breach
Breaching surface
Infinite abyss
Of sea weighed in
With ever
Greater intensisityrom all angles
Completely alone.


SHe wonders how tail less
Yet transformed
She is able

And then reacalls her ‘why’,
And refuses to be fooled
By devious dieties
With false hope
And comfort
Of an easy end
And again
She swims


Hope
As she swims
Better, faster
Learning, knowing
The difference
Between fools gold
And sunken treatsures
Hoping
He could
Still recognizeand swim
To her

Who has fins


“Remember”
Hallucinations
all, He both hated and craved
As reminders, why


It had been weeks
Since she had left home
How many

She did not remember
Nor care.

He reminds himself that shimmer
On water
Does try to trick
With songs
That might be

Always

Lost at sea.

And mirages

Come back
Though dehydrated
And desperate
For conctact
Love does not
Cannot be

Replicated
And so
Sun rises again,
Unkowing that a worn
Seamen,
mutually
Voyage on.


Does she know?
DId she understand?
He wonders,
Absorbed,
In where, if an when,
She might be…
On the horizon line,
Sun sizzles
into sea.