This is probably going to be edited a grunch later, but the opening hit me when i woke this morning, early as usual. So i sat out on the patio with my coffee as dawn passed me by while i completed the first draft. Being me, i decided to share it now, rather than after another edit or two or three or…

The Tempest Sea

have  you heard the gale wind howling
from the fetch on the open sea
‘bout 450 leagues south of the Arabian monsoon
that created the tempest sea?

have you stood on the bridge wing staring
at black waters with roiling foam below
while the ship rolled more than forty degrees
just shy of the point of no return
‘bout 60 leagues east of Cape Hatteras,
the bane of the Atlantic sea?

have you increased speed to run ahead
of a typhoon’s angry winds,
hoping to make it across the South China Sea
‘bout 100 leagues west of Luzon?

have you flinched when green water, not spume,
climbed across the forecastle’s decks
to smash against the pilot house
while you hunkered down inside
‘bout 150 leagues nor’east of Nova Scotia?

if you ain’t felt the sea’s fury,
an old mariner can tell you
while you are in it, you ain’t afraid
‘cause you’re too busy doing
what needs to be done to worry
but
when it’s over and the seas are calm
you get a little scared;
you marvel at the woman we call the sea,
fall in love with all her moods
and
wish that you were home.