On Stranger Tides

The boat rocks beneath my feet, buffeted by an upward thrust from the waves.

Or perhaps that was just one of those tentacles again.

“Is that all you’ve got?” I mutter through a smile, teeth bared, tongue flicking.

The wind roars like a lioness in heat.

The water leaves bite marks in the hull with each slapping wave.

The sun and the moon do not take turns lighting the sky, but do so together.

In the deep… you’ll find the kind of beasts most will never seek.

These seas are strange. 

Few spend enough time here to learn the terrain.

I have.

I’ve built a home here.

That’s why I smile when the boat rocks beneath me.

I laugh when the wind pulls strings of tears from my eyes.

I grin when the waves flood the decks and soak the sails.

Hundreds of hours on these high seas have revealed the currents.

I know them now like I know every little pixel of my body.

With the swells I’ve learned to dance.

Beneath the waves I’ve learned to let go.

And on the ocean floor, I shake hands with Death.

“I could join you,” I say.

“Not yet,” Death replies.

With love from the forest,

~ Alexander