From the Maelstrom
Always drinking, never quenching,
She sucks my ship down with a thirst never slaking.
And so into her lightless night I go
To be in her nightmare tossed to and fro.
Desperate and afraid, I turn my head up for air
Only to fill my lungs with water; my heart, despair.
Still trapped in her violent patch of sea
An unshakeable, deadly calm o’ertakes me.
With water in place of air on my lips,
I take my place among the sunken ships.
Under her spell we can no longer fight her;
The trapped lovers of our maritime widow spider
A new Wave invades her treacherous sea
Rousing me from my eternal sleep, “Rise and be free!”
I try to move, but am bound by the smothering depth,
My body refusing to budge until I once again draw breath.
The new waters overwhelm her; she flings my body away,
And suddenly with others I find myself surrounded in glorious day!
None agreed on where to go, so we went our separate ways,
Some returned home, still others to dreams delayed
But I followed the Wind that accompanied the Wave
Longing to be with the Breath that deemed my life to save.
– Eric Sparks, (c) 2018