Sailing Stormy Seas

By William Laferriere

I could never have envisioned

Something more difficult

More treacherous, and yet more sublime,

than Sailing Stormy Seas

When persistent unseen waves

Pound you and the afterdecks,

Knocking the rails,

as the boom vang screams

Forcing you to man the helm

Both hands in a locked embrace

Anticipating that mysterious rogue wave

a potential overboard

It’s as if your life too

Staggered and dependent upon

Your ability to navigate the tempest

and withstand the test

Your intellect channels

The Ancient Mariner

The winds howling

almost jeering

And yet you navigate by compass

Under a relentless blow

Water swelling

water everywhere

True danger presents itself

And yet no one aboard

Thinks twice, or doubts,

having faith in the vessel

And then I met

An entire community

Biopsied and diagnosed

so beautiful in their resilience

Like that lost sailor

Who spent her time at sea

And withstood the torrential

as the shore lights ultimately beckoned