Pen
When I write I am a captain
sailing black and blue ink seas
The pubescent dolphins giggling in waves
And the mermaids swimming always beneath the surface
less distinguishable- but there
They wave hello, or goodbye, hard to say which
Their fins are my strokes.
There's an echo in the breeze
Salty and hoarse- my mother's voice
Caught in the sails like an insect on flypaper
It tugs north, I steer east. The tide disagrees with both;
The moon reminds me of my father
There's treasure
That I sell to feel cheated
Secrets worth their weight in gold
Pillaged from washed out wooden coffins
Buried under sand like the bottom of an hour glass
I search the sky for inspiration
Clouds take the form of memory
In a spectrum of white to gray to black
When the storms hit, it rains regret
When it clears, I am naked in the sun
When I write I am a captain
Answering the call of the sea like blood to the heart
And I am the figurehead
a prisoner in love with her captor.
As I sail, we are one