The Sea

Only I see the sea;

Minute, hour, mist to foam,

A plank among the wreck, I

And a seething hiss, a shore.

The taste and smell of rust

Many days old, moan and creak;

My teeth grind on iron sand,

But only I see the sea.

Heady swells greet the dawn,

Riptides tear the day in two;

Lifeboats drift just out of reach,

And only I see the sea.

Happy faces turn about,

Blind and smiling endlessly;

Make it stop, just make it stop,

Yet only I see the sea.

Friends long gone, long ago,

Now a distant memory;

Floating between sky and sky,

Only I see the sea.