BEACHED WAIL

Waiting in uncertainty--beached
where once you reached
in promises of whales and sails
(a truth no longer mine or thine)

where once there was a fairytale
past wrap of black kelp widow veil
but what is there now to tell...
just a siren singing a beached wail

and broken driftwood stick in hand
wounded, scratching in sand
with the absurd bleeding words
all over some page in rhyme or rage

as a sun rises and sets on time
words and boat worked line by line
the beached wail becomes a moan
lamenting hourglass grains alone

foam, rushing waters come in again
warning of gales and bargaining
and the ocean tide prevails
as the wind fills your sails

in the distance, you hear the wail...
breaching, you welcome the whale

(c) 2006 Rennie Lorca