The boat sailed at half mast,

assailed at both ends by sharp pointed

waves who crashed recklessly against

the nailed wood like jagged saws.

Cutting deep into the hull, the sea

violently pushed the vessel up and down

and pushed its watery arms into

the delicate structure built by inner planks.

Emotional bursts of wind reviled

in making the craft’s owner

search to the horizon from a perch at the bow,

and accusingly upwards, for relief or a warning.

As the sun died a second time,

red blood splattered across the sky

and the hungry mouths of open clouds

were covered with a wide, bleeding smiles.

They watched the drowning scene below them

and called from the depths of the ocean,

the usual welcoming party with a shovel and marker.