"a wave of doubt..."

“Disturb us, Lord,
to dare more boldly,
to venture on wider seas,

where storms will show Your mastery,

where losing sight of land,
we shall find the stars. ..."
-F. Drake

I thought I
was making
headway in the
vastness of
it all

when a wave of
sorrow,
a swell of doubt
broke over
the bow of my
calm
and threatened to capsize
my peace...

but I am
a salt-soaked
wayfarer
on this roiling ocean
I call
my life

I am a woman with
sea-legs,
ready to adapt
to the
shifting
angles and
slippery security
of a
creative life,
a day of wonder,
a moment's
pause to capture
serenity at
the expense of
knowing how deep the keel,
or just where the
next
harbor lies...

I am a sea child,
a mermaid,
a sun-leathered
wind-whipped
siren of the deep...

my eyes have
taken on the color of
a slice sky between the cracking sheets...
the shade of blue,
and slate,
and something deeper than
the night...the color of the sea
just before
a nor'easter sends
curtains of
rain
sideways
into
the face of uncertainty,
and I roar with
pleasure,
as saltwater
pools in the creases of
my oilskins
and I stare into the
eyes of
Neptune's
fury
off the bow...

i will bow only to
the One who
holds the tiller of
my life

I will take
orders only from the
Captain of
my
days

I will navigate this
storm at
His command,
listening only
for His
voice
rising above
the shrieking voices
of
despair....

I am a sea-worthy
vessel,
a captain's daughter,
a fearless
mate,
a girl who
roars in
the face of
fear,

a child
who's kisses taste of salt
and sun,

a woman who tightens the
halyards
with
eager
hands...

"Oh Captain,
my Captain..."
- W. Whitman