Sinking
by Brett L. Becker
The storms in your eyes
Caught me unaware.
They have capsized me.
Fog, roiling blue and green,
Has swirled ‘round my soaked sails
Like living dew
And stolen me away—
Beneath your waves,
Pulled along by your currents,
Flowing.
And I have not struggled.
Even as the salty blue spray of your tears
Swamped me,
So it ended my thirst.
I have drunk the whirling lust
Of your lightning skies,
Felt your whitecaps breaking
Over my bow, turning me turtle,
And I have smiled through it all.
I have drowned in you,
And as you filled my lungs with your ocean
You filled my life with your eyes.
I inhaled your hurricane rains,
And went down in the storm.
Now my hull, my deck, my spars and lines
Lay forgotten and broken.
Covered by the sands below
The swells of your sea.
And I am thankful.
I tread now on your waters
Free of old timbers, frayed sheets,
Free of rusted safety cables.
No longer hiding from the storm
But standing up and laughing
While you cleanse me with rain and thunder.
Your eyes have peeled me apart,
Discarded all falsehood,
And made me real.