i stand and stare on this conch-strewn beach
the rolling sea
the seagulls seem hollow in my thoughts
left dry
like a sunburned shell

i dropped anchor for you in wide waters
like a breached galley
capturing me with your face
yet also held me at bay
above board as fellow sailors
as an enclose haven

so made was i to be
the man you sought out
handsomely
and my furnace for you found no stoke
enough to boatswain your masts
but you had to depart for the siesta
beneath the sea

i plan to cross for you aft
and not stop searching leeward for you
our parting was a saber
as your ship set sail
our teardrops mingled like blood
handkerchief waving that fair winds
farewell

like the sea
quiet or in rage,
then your voyage met a nor'easter storm
gulping your ship into the maw
you did not reach the imagined door
my sight grew dim

i cannot hear inside my echo
you are in the lock
the beach breakers still roaring
your grin
far too permanent to be held
in that dark beneath
buoying me
when feather
touching the barnacled hand in mine






4.4 10/10
© Brian Peter Hodgkinson