by Sigrid E. Mortensen
© 2023
There is a swirling vortex
Off of my port stern
Behind me
Far enough
To be not quite visible
Yet I can hear its rumbling roar
Taunting my left ear.
The wind of it
Inflates my sails
And it moves with me
Staying
Always
Just behind my reckoning.
I hear its menacing growl
I feel a chill scrape my left side.
If I run my sails hard enough
I can keep ahead of it
But if I linger
Only slightly
I fear it will draw me in
I will skate along its edge
Circle ‘round its gravity well
Spiral into darkness
And oblivion.
I can’t ignore its screeching howl
Nor the stench of its foul breath
I can only trim my sails the harder
To flee its icy depth.
It follows me
Follows me
Follows me.
When seas are calm
It ebbs into soft eddies
That churn their ugly threats
Far below the surface.
And when winds roar anew
It kicks into a frenzy
That spurns me forward and
Away
Escape its wrathful vengeance
Lurking predator
After prey.
What would happen if I came about
Faced my bow headlong into its core?
Would I slice it into smaller swirls,
Spawn more serpents,
Multitudes of
Medusa’s curls?
Or would the bubble of it pop
And glitter rainbow-colored droplets
Harmless
Into salty air?
I only wonder
Daren’t try
For now
I have more waves to run.
I choose
Instead
Uneasy resignation
Of its ever-presence off my left shoulder
I live with it
Try to ignore it
And never quite succeed
Yet aim my focus
Forward
Upward
Squint to see
My guiding stars.