21 November 2021

By Philip Kuepper

The boat at anchor moved
with whatever motion
the sea brought it. The boat
did not fight the sea,
but rode the sea, bareback,
like native Americans rode horses,
nothing between horse and nature,
skin-on-skin.

So, too, the skin of the boat
on the skin of the sea.
They rode in communion,
which is why the boat riding anchor
had not been battered
by the storm that battered
the boats ashore. The boat riding anchor
was like a horse let loose,
before the storm come could
level the barn to the ground,
where stood the horse's stall.

Often, the more freedom wrested from discipline,
provides for a greater chance
of survival.

(10 November 2021)