Ongoing Poetry

Part 8| The Fisherman's Daughter

My father took me out to sea one day
So I could watch him navigate the waves
He said "pequeña, pay close attention,
because out here
there are no signs to show the way"

Two years later I fish alone
My father in his grave
My mother sick at home
While I try to navigate the waves
I wish I knew more of how to
Navigate the waves

The currents are rough
And the waves are unforgiving
Cold and relentless
My lips cracked and shivering

Sprays of salty water sting my eyes
And soon I feel the boat capsize
I close my eyes and think
This hurricane has me sized

I can drown or I can swim
If I drown I let it win
But if I swim it might win too
And I'll drown beneath the blue
Beneath the blue and endless sea

And so death calls out to me,

"Float with me, oh tired one,
your limbs are weak and weary
Let the currents carry you,
curl up beneath the waves
And sleep beneath the blue
Daddy's waiting in his grave,
he can't wait to see you too"

"Death, do the math.
If I swim I might win
no matter how slight the chance
but if I lay here to make my grave
I will most definitely without a doubt
never make it back"

"But who wants to make it back?
When you can finally find peace
To live means to face the storm
So close your eyes and rest at ease"

"But in the eye of each hurricane, there is quite
The storm will pass and the clouds will part---

"WHO CARES
You have lived through enough storms
And if you swim, if you live
There will only come more!

To live will mean more pain
So what is there to live for, what is there to gain
If there have only been and will be, more storms?"

"Every smile that I've been graced with
Every sunrise that I've seen
Every day that the waters have been calm has been worth it
Every day yet to come
when the waters will be calm, will be worth it

Hurricanes are inevitable
I will not drown myself for something I cannot change
And besides,
every storm
only helps me to learn
how to better navigate the waves"

And so I swam against the current
I stroked, I paddled, and I tread
Tried to keep my head above the water
To keep looking straight ahead

Soon I saw my house
Sitting on the hillside
And felt my feet graze the ocean floor
My body exhausted and dehydrated
As I washed up on the shore

So I rebuilt my boat
To keep it better afloat
And took out my journal to jot down some notes

"Dear self,
The ocean has always been unforgiving
But each sunset promises a sunrise
Tomorrow is a new day

Another day
Another chance
To navigate the waves

And I will drown trying
The same way my father drown trying
The same way we all drown trying

Because there is no end to the dangers
There is no end to the currents
Or the hurricanes

There is only progress
And that's all that matters
That I keep trying
That I keep learning
So I can teach my children
How to navigate the waves"

11.3.17