Sea Story

(for M)

by Donald S Murray

We have all been in similar places,
occupied these spaces between the wreckage and the rock,
felt the shock of impact,
experienced a moment when careless talk

diverted love and life,
put an end to the smooth voyage we’d been travelling on,
discovering instead we were heading in a dangerous direction,
that the compass fixed between our fingers was set wrong.

And that is where the light comes in,
where its gleam can restore our ability to navigate
our way to calmer waters,
give us the chance not to be abandoned to the fate

our misguided course has taken us.
Instead of drift, where that tide has washed us up,
a small gleam of salvation,
a tiny and persistent beam of hope.