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Night at Sea

11 Oct

At sea at night
we smell hulking ships
miles before
we see their lights.

Are they coming or going?
Will they cross our path?
Green and red and white
dance against the black
while rushing velvet water
against the hull, slaps.

Radar screen
glowing green
offers little support
and radio silence
fails to report.

I grab the mouthpiece
to hail the captain,
across the airwaves I repeat:
“This is SV Fellowship
northbound vessel to your starboard.”


Silence.
“Do you see us?”
Silence.
“Do you copy?
Over …”

We sleep in our life vests at night
because the ocean is a serious thing

and there is a reason why
I avoid rollercoasters.

Bedtime stories at sunset offshore

Bedtime stories at sunset offshore

Ultra Marine

29 Apr

Once upon a time I spent 10 days on a sailboat in the ocean, sailing north. The blue water has been calling me back ever since.

Ultramarine Gulf Stream
liquid conveyor belt, carry my dreams
let me skip along your surface
don’t let me get too deep

Each periwinkle morning
turns to a turquoise blanket of hope
entreating us to sail boldly
past the continental slope

And in the afternoon
a bluefin tuna of iridescent azure
is plucked from the waters
with a silver spoon lure

Sir, we royally salute you
and your noble fate
served up, shimmering,
upon a sapphire plate

Herculean cerulean
yet effortlessly triumphant
we scan for the next horizon
to grasp the earth’s circumference

until we rest our heads
under a diamond indigo shawl
the blue will fuel our reveries-
sailors, explorers, dreamers, all.

Ultramarine is the color of the Gulf Stream.

Ultramarine is the color of the Gulf Stream.

Check out the blog “A Life Nomadik” – a living example of my poem.