Dangerous Scales

Most people think
Of the ocean as
Peaceful, serene;
But they could not
Be more wrong.

Beneath the waves
Lies a world full of
Dangerous scales.
Light up above and
Only death below,
And each current
Brings endless rows
Of predators’ teeth
And stifled cries for
Help, god, help
As they are ripped
To the bones.

Though it may be
A disquiet place,
The sea conveys a
Deeper balance of
Life and death.

MSBQ

Galathea

Peering down
Into the blue,
I lean forward
Letting gravity
Take over.

As the light fades
At lower depths,
The pressure is
Overwhelming.
I strain my ears
To hear the sound
Of waves above.

I may speak the
Tongues of whales
But when I listen
To voices among
The tide pools,
Their messages
Are always lost.

With each layer
Of ocean that I
Pass through on
My path into the
Endless abyss,
My eyes gaze in
Both wonder and
Horror at what
Travels here
Down below.

MSBQ

Standing Water

The sea was grey,
So much so that when
You looked, your eyes
Couldn’t quite tell where
The horizon really was.
Compacted wet sand is
Terrific for holding shape,
Each paw print a smudge
That remained long after
Her feet had left the beach.

The air smelled of salt, and
The ebb and flow of waves
Repeated their song like a
Pair of giant watery lungs-
Inhale and exhale.

Every wave brought me
Closer, into the eddies and
Pools between the rocks.
I hear her splash her way
Back to me, whining and
Barking for me to return.
But here is where I’ll stay.

MSBQ

Elsewhere

There once lived a girl,
Bright eyes full of bliss,
Between a lake and the sea.
She loved the water like
A sibling, taking it in her
Strong arms every morning.

Over time, her longing grew;
The years took with them her
Satisfaction with the world’s
Darkened sunset above.
Finally, she decided to leave.

She’d found a tall oak by
The river that would do;
A good hour with an axe,
And another to pull it back
Towards town, and she
Was ready to build.

She spent days sanding and
Refining the tree’s rugged
Planks and bark into a vessel
Worthy of sailing across her sea.
After all, what she really wanted
More than anything at all was
To be elsewhere.

The call of the west wind would
Prove too great for her to resist,
So she took off before sunrise
Never to return.

MSBQ