Pirate

If this was a ship it would never reach the sand, waiting like a crescent of glitter against your dark prophesies. I have been here, sir, and know the wind sweeps for me, it scours for love of me and you should set me back into the water or else it will scour you too. If you will not, I will keep scrubbing the worm rotted wood and I will soak bread in wine to feed your tired men. When my finger is cut I will not cry out, it will be silent, like all of me, hidden behind your creaky door and folded up small in your trap.

But beware! I have hands where you didn't know hands could go. When I think on your mouth, it moves in absentia, it speaks without your knowledge and tells me you are tired, and you are stripped bare and cold, and that my tenure here has kept you alive when you thought you would kill me, but didn't dare. I can read hearts against the wine, I can see veins in the drink. Ach! Yes, toss me over if you dare. I will still read you, from my own cradle of hell.

The waves reap their own answers and deliver them on saline infused rushes. Tired man, sit yourself down and let me take all your woolly dreams from you, put light in the corners with oil lamps and candle drippings, let me take your tired despot hand and pretend you are no more than a young boy staring manhood in the jaw- I will lead you to a place better than mother. Better than death. Better than love. Where the bread is always fresh and there is no salt pork to accost your delicate palate.

Listen to the voices tangling up in the masts. Listen to them throwing lullabies into the fog like supplication gone mad. They will go down with the anchor. Like you, they will go down with the deep sink. They will not breath under water. They will have no song left when the capsizing completes and all splinters are lost. Take my hand, it's your only lifeboat.

Trust in my lullaby. Trust in my direction.




Picture note:  if this picture seems familiar that's because if you've been reading my blog for a while, it is.  I've used it before.  However, I write a lot of my prose/poetry on a private blog and I use self portraits to punctuate these more private writings and as I decided to add this one to the public blog it seemed wrong not to include the picture I originally chose for it.