chop

they kept quiet beneath the hum of the two-stroke engine, the water's chop flattened by the belly of the boat and the drunken rants of their captain, squinting at the sun.

#katyamills

lost to sea

in a vessel constructed by hand

they faced the mighty sea alone

the sails they sewn to withstand

hundred knot winds blown 

past the limits of good faith 

across the monochrome

lashed to the wheel by a knotted sheet

they piloted through a seven day storm 

no sleep no sleep until it dialed down

salted air and foam lodged within 

the corrugated bone

they untethered too soon

a misstep any good sailor could take

to make the much needed repairs

high up on the mainsail mast 

when taken by a gust and forever

lost to sea

#katyamills