By Nan Byrne
The little boat goes back and forth
A steadfast engine against the tide
Shuttling industry from dock to dock
In darkness and in light
The Captain’s granite shape in mist
Upon the open deck stands fast
As island winds reign wild
A weathered silhouette
In field of boiling waves
His yellow drowning suit remarks
The epitaph of souls now lost
Of this untamed place
Wash over bow and lavish flag
Stiff against the chore
We are this boat
We are this fragile wooden cage
Heaving from coast to coast
Steering the narrow channel
Duties set by faith
Struggling against the current
Beneath its surface gray
Like flowers on a garden wall we cling
Half timbered facades to shelter our fate
As pointer star relinquishes North
As reference turns to scratching sand
Slate sky lies heavy above our heads
In God’s open meadow we find routine
Surrender not against the storm
The good endure
The little boat goes back and forth
Nan Byrne lives in Edgartown and is fond of craft beer, the Pretenders, and vintage cakes. The author of two books, and a member of both Cleaveland House Poets and the Martha’s Vineyard Poets Collective, her poems and stories have appeared in a variety of literary magazines including Michigan Quarterly Review, Fiction Southeast, and the Seattle Review, among others. A poem, “Ever Y Loving,” was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
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