letting go

no hand upon the tiller head into the wind sails luff & flap the main lifts, the jib flaps

tactless, I let the line dangle the mainstays twang fetid bilge wafts back in the stern of our days.

an unstayed sail collapses a deflated arc of motion becalmed pirate, empty chest

the line goes slack unmoored indifference I lie in my hammock watch planes fly by shaped like anchors plowing our last wave

the chop & foam go static white noise rushing nowhere

written March 2000

updated January 9, 2026