Poetry

Open Wide

 

Waves upon waves, upon decks upon decks,

Seen with specs, though wet, clearly wet;

The body, it roars, useless tools, bloody oars,

Cascading liquid, wasted heeds, wordless heeds;

A lost captain, now swimming with plankton,

A fight for life, with bigger life, a soaking life;

The water, it gloats, no protection, no boats,

The water, it sees, a sacrifice, it needs;

Hungry and vicious, it lingers, no contrition,

Clinging is fruitless, barren hope, no denouement;

Visions of yore, waving by windows, outside the door,

Motionless, breathless, swept away to the shore.

The Great Fire

The Great Fire came to a man in the most fortuitous of circumstances. Running from a gigantic predator, the man tripped on the ground and tumbled into a cave. Darkness ruled the night, except for a light near the end of the cave. The man was intrigued. He walked closer to the light and noticed it was moving. It was bright, it was hot, and it had no fixed form. He was mesmerized by the treasure before him. It had an energy, a force, a story. It was The Great Fire. Feeling like the luckiest being on earth, he had delusions of grandeur and took The Great Fire from its home. Little did he know the huge creature he’d just escaped from had been been watching as he took the element. When he exited the cave, the creature pounced, took hold of the man, and demanded the fire. The man refused, but was physically overmatched. He was dragooned by the dragon to give up the fire. With no other option before him, he relented. The dragon was mystified once it possessed the fire. Its eyes glimmered, its insides lit up. It cackled as it dropped the man onto the ground. The man watched as the dragon flew away, breathing the newfound element through its nose, illuminating the night sky with a streaking, red-orange hue. The man had a taste of power and vowed on his life to get it back. The Great Fire.