And the wind takes the boat

by Frances Boyle

with multitudes of creaks and whap-whapping of sails
and the boat lists   on its side rushing
faster than the waves bashing below

     &   my friend
         on the high side
         has the sky
         behind her
     she’s suspended in blue air
     a movie set background
     1950s Vista-Vision

but the sounds are real   the angry sails
and the leaping sheets tangling
slapping the deck
      thud shudder thud
we’ve got to get it, get it under
control and hold it and hold it
my hands don’t know where to grip
and my head’s in the sky
my heart full of whipping ropes.

— from Juniper Volume 2, Issue 1