The seas can be tumultuous at times,

unforgiving, relentless, a downright belligerent bastard.

So ride and revel in the stormy waves

Let the skies threaten and yell,

flash and complain, like the devil thrashing in hell.

Give him a smile, a wink,  and a fuck you, and tell

him, “You know what you can do!”

Then  go down, down, down

Letting the deep  in all it’s darkness

console you in it’s mystery,

comforting, cajoling, ever

unfolding in its complexities.

Find peace in the quiet deep.

Tempests may knock on yonder door

while the slow rolling lies just below

while abed you rest, upon a pillow of

seaweed amidst strange trees.

“Knock, knock,” says the sky above

“Go away!”  you say.

“There will be time enough  for you in the bright light of day!”

by Philip Wardlow 2016