Unreachable Horizons

 

The insane winds that charged our mighty galleon

Dropped

And our love became

Becalmed

An implausible sea change

This thing - this all consuming thing

That had, for weeks thrown us

Side to side, 

That had tossed us on the waves of

Mad, excited romance

Now silent

And drifting

Off course

Still moving

Still saying the words

And doing the actions

But now without energy or momentum

We tried to use the oars, a while,

But it’s hard for two poor sailors to propel

So big a ship

And it seemed madness, now,

To look around

To see so huge a boat and know ourselves

To be so small a crew

It became a question of which 

Nautical metaphor to pursue

Was one of us to dive away and drown?

Would we die together

Mad, and staring, thirsty, at the sea?

And even if the wind picked up

And our ship once more rose up and fell

And smashed through these green and concrete waves

We would be brittle captains

Staring at unreachable horizons

Terrified that the wind might drop

Eyes pricking with doubt

As birds looped and called out

Under the infinite sky