the vessel groans
the ocean pressures its frame
to the port I see the lighthouse
through the sleet and the rain
and I wish for one more day
to give my love and repay debts
the morning finds our bodies washed up thirty miles west



---



it's been ten years this month since my father died,
i still can not believe it. wasn't it yesterday he was bringing me bowling down the street?
no, that's been a parking lot for years now,
he's been dead and in the sea for years now.



my dad was my best friend.
he was out of town months at a time,
fishing, sending money, making phone calls,
that i had to end with "over" after every sentence.

"i love you daddy, over"

"i love you, too paige. over and out"


he promised to bring me to south america to fish with him,
one day, when i was older, not so scared of the sea.

i'm older now, dad. the sea still scares me,
but let's go out on the boat, alright?