Only where I must sail

vivianimbriotis | March 30, 2026, 10:18 a.m.

When I was born aship at sea

Aloft the foamy deep

I sailed here and there carefree

From waking until sleep

I never saw another boat

But wonders rich beneath

I never touched them, only wrote

And wondered, dreamed, repeat

Exotica I saw back then

Still comes to mind today

Drawn forth in mental pen

The colours washed and grey

Coral cities far below

Gilt aquatic balls

Dancers dressed up to the gills

Cities, speeches, halls

Far great stretches of flat glass

The wind did not disturb

The wake I left behind myself

Was evidence soon curbed

And all below the people touched

Or sang or worked or played

I watched them with a reverence hushed 

From deck I never strayed

I was already growing old

When first I saw her near

Her scales gleamed with inner light

Her teeth evoked a fear

She climbed aboard and spoke to me

My heart, it nearly stopped

To have another creature here

To hear her voice unblocked

She told me such exciting things

about the world below

We talked until the sky was dark

She said she need must go

She left a kiss upon my cheek

Produced a knotted line

And as I faded, claimed by sleep

She dove into the brine

I hardly noticed th' rope at first

When tied became my prow

It made the rudder feel much worse

It tugged upon the bow 

But still I sailed far north and south

And saw the men below

Who never came and spoke to me

Through underwater snow

I watched then work with fish-chest bare

And build great works of ice

A year or more I anchored there

To see their cold device

Through no great act on my behalf

One black-scaled older one

With clawèd hands and easy laugh

Left me nowhere to run

His chest was broad, his voice was gruff

He fixed my sail's holes

With sparkling scaled cloth made of

The brightest, fastest shoals 

He spoke much less than she had done

He held me in his arms

With seawater he washed my hair

With lye and with his palms

I woke up to another rope

'Longside the older one

At first bemused, hair filled with soap

I stared at it quite long

I touched the knot that tied it there

Felt a memory very fond

Intended to undo the thing

But could not loose my bonds

Another rope came soon to port

Then starboard then my stern

Some were loose but most were taut

My rudder would not turn

And each of them so solemn tied

And each of them an oath

And each of them I could abide,

Resent, or mostly both 

I sail now when I am led

Which mostly is due west

I wonder at what lies ahead

At sunset's furth'est rest

Once a day I kiss the knots

And run my hands along

The lengths of ropes that, far away

Might dance to wat'ry song

I choose what flag my mast hoists high

And choose my speed and rate

I choose what songs to whistle dry

And what to celebrate

For now and then as I pass by

I happen, just by chance

To pass some dolphins jumping high

And sparkling as they dance