I set out in a boat
Of leaves
To find a man
Who silently grieved
On an island
The waves came
Up and over my skin
The boat disappeared
I began to swim
Into the unknown
I fell asleep
In the frozen waves
Where the ghosts were
Rising
From watery graves
Embracing each other
In silence
Drowning
For centuries
Breathing the waves
I lived in the ocean
In fearful caves
For love is a power
That kills
As it saves
Love is a dreadful teacher
I lay down
On the loneliest beach
Beneath broken cliffs
That I could not reach
Where a man could die
Or a woman could perish
In search of something to love
Or to cherish
And there on the shore
Was my boat made of leaves
And a note
From the man who had left it
For the seas
Where the heart is
So full of itself
It deceives and cheats
Death
With an ace up its sleeve
Some things you have to believe
To see
Some things you have to let go of
To be
I left what I had
And you left what you grieved
So what
We could risk everything now
To retrieve our soul
No angels arriving
Just will for surviving
To emerge
From the ocean
Simple
And whole
The life you were mourning
Torn open
So that you could
Be born
So that you could re-
Form your life
Into love
© 2022 Julie Flanders
April is Poetry Month Day 27
Image by: Jeremy Bishop
October Process 