Sail Away
I was now the wood: bark heavy, splintered,
sunk. Climb, climb, my mind spoke
and in that moment my engine roared,
propeller spun and I raised the sail,
hair beating the wind.
If it wasn’t hard enough trying
to venture out, the road ahead
had disappeared under the flood
and here I was, a boat on wild water,
riding the swell.
I could see my past self: sodden,
weighed down, trying to grab a branch,
the top of a fence, a gate (open to let
the healthy through). I couldn’t haul myself up
to mount this wave.
I’ll stay on board and sneer at the broken land,
steady my sail and ride, ride, away from
appointments, hospitals, people who can’t
help, won’t help and drop my anchor
when they find a cure.
Background: So much easier if I was a boat with an engine!