We the Sea
An Anthology
by Ctj
...
Dedicated to IceArrows1200,
my #1 inspiration to love writing,
as she embarks on many new adventures
in a foreign place;
Ciela and Linebeck would be proud.
...
Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic
-Van Morrison, "Into the Mystic"
Do you ever feel like kissing someone you hate?
the fairy asks
The captain gives her an odd look.
Why?
I don't know,
she sighs, shrugging,
I just get this feeling when you...
When I what?
When you look at Jolene. I think...
I think that maybe
you want
to kiss her?
The captain is baffled
You really think I'd want to kiss
somebody I hate?!
That was just my question,
wasn't it?
she retorts
His fury buzzes like a capsule
in the silence.
So what?!
he finally snaps,
That doesn't make me hate her any less!
But he's said it now,
and the fairy is triumphant
and sports a little golden glow
of victory
Come on, now,
he grumbles
Don't tell me you've never thought
of kissing someone
you didn't expect
Sparkles...
It happens
She just peers at him,
a surprise, melancholy tug at the
razor-thin edges of her
lips
From time to time,
she finally admits
From time to time I've thought of it
See?
he retorts, adding thoughtlessly,
It's only human
And swirls his coat
and swaggers away
and slams the door to his quarters
the boat swaying vaguely in his victory
So are you,
she wants to say
but it's empty air before her
and especially below her
The horizon line splits the setting sun
in half like a ripe red fruit,
its juice spilling over the waters
and fracturing off of the fairy's wings,
the flutter sending wispy rainbows
this way and that
that way and this,
little shattered rays
of light on light
She comes to rest on
the rusted rail of the ship,
the low-hanging ropes
and screeching pulleys
of the lifeboat
broad enough to wrap her
hairpin arms around
and she thinks of rowing that boat
with broad, strong,
aching limbs,
of sweat on her brow and great
big magnificent pumping lungs
and a heart that beats
like a steaming, bellowing machine
and for the first time in a while
she wishes for mortality
and a body made for working
and for straining
and for—loving?
For to feel compassion is not enough,
you must hold and caress and
kiss
and if only… she had…
...The sun dips away
and she,
the only remaining
flicker of warmth,
stands vigil for awhile
over the quiet,
moon-washed deck
Funny,
the things you learn to want
which you'd never, ever expect
Funny, how desire springs from tension
Funny,
how you want to be alone
until you are
And then she drifts off to sleep,
and dreams of being human.
I need to work out the poetry muscle for the sake of my writing class and CieLinebeck just puts me in the poetic mood, you know? I think I'll be adding more poems to this work for sure, so stay tuned for more free-verse in the near future. :)
P.S. - Check out IceArrows1200's work! She is amaaazing.