Bell tolling thirteen times
shattered mirror
black cats cross
red dawn rising
distant looks on anxious faces

Wind screaming in the wires
waves of thunder
lightning revealing
darkness surrounding
struggling to stay together

The storm stricken sailor
hand reaches out
the line too short
pulled apart by winds
and currents we cannot understand

Three days out they return
faces long and pale
no flags waving
no words needed
friends and families wearing black

A bright clear day is born
gather by the docks
ancient cycles repeating
a ship in harbor's safe
but that's not what ships are for.


>I thought long and hard about the 1st and 3rd stanzas, and wrote the others in. Props to mel for the two closing lines.