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