Ship.

Ship

Fading away behind tired eyes
Sheets; waves that cool and calm me to sleep
Tonight, inside my mind I’ll be swimming
With a lantern light in tow, I’ll be plunging
Deep and down, into my minds darkest caverns
Melting into the depths as plastic over flame
Each abyss awaiting a visit, like the loneliest of widowers
They welcome me with cold arms and pull me close with undertow
Each visit brief and fleeting, as I leave I hear each water’s body weeping
I dive and dive
Searching for something, unaware of what it may be
I dive
Deeper, darker and heavier still
Lungs begging me to retreat to the surface
Where they can breathe and where I may wake
But I am not ready to wake, lungs be damned
The lantern light falls upon a sunken vessel
No more than a league away
Legs pulse as arms claw, pulling me down
Deeper, darker and heavier still
Finally, water wrinkled feet touch down on the wooden planks of the sunken ship
Just as my lungs give out, I grab the nautical wheel and guide the ship to the surface
Where I gasp and wake
And for a night, just one night, I was a Captain

-Ryan Baker

Ship.

He is a cruise liner ship.
Big and luxurious.
at least that is how he rides the waves.
crashing over them.
destroying them.
the antithesis of delicate.

she is a row boat.
with old wood and flaking paint.
He doesn't appreciate the stories her cracks tell
about all the places she's been.

She loves the waves
She embraces their curve
and never interrupts their watery dance.

He wasn't meant for her.
How could he really love an old row boat?

I can't wait til that ship has sailed.

-Shannon Martinez

Ship.
I've carried you far enough.
Abandon me.
The good times stay at the shorelines.
We're at war.
This ship never planned to bring you back,
I looked for a way out and found a league of fools.
When you kissed your girls goodbye,
I chartered a course for suicide.
Your wives will bed land-locked sailors,
You'll rest at the bottom of the sea.
You will know the life I have known,
Since the ocean's warmth betrayed me.

-Tylor Sherman