With little warning
The wind grew quickly to 35 knots
And almost as quickly
The seas built to fifteen feet
And then the winds
And seas
Began in earnest
To show me
Their power
And strength.
And I knew
I was in for a long day
And even longer night.
As the wind
And the seas
Continued to grow
I knew nothing to do
But hang on.
Hope doesn’t seem
To be present
But fear never leaves.
Just keep telling myself
Eighteen more hours
And the sun will return
And this misery
Will be behind me.
But I’m cold
And wet
Can’t do this
For eighteen hours
But then somewhere
In my mind I hear
You don’t have a choice
The choice you had
You made long ago.
And then a twenty foot wall of seawater
Breaks over the stern
And the sound is deafening
And for a moment
it seems the entire stern
Has broken off
And all I can see is
White foaming sea
Where the stern was
Just moments ago
And then the bow crests
Another wave
And the sea clears the stern
And I see the boat is still together
And i tell myself
Only eighteen hours
To go.
Comments