sixty-nine

ocean-bound

soul vessels

spirit boats

drifting downstream

down to the sea

in darkness

to the salty waters

to the depths

in the silent mists

soft shadows

directionless

lost forever

ghosts ships

of the foresakened

the drowned

homeless spirits

never receiving

the proper last rites

missing dead who still

aimlessly stalk the night

standing motionlessly on deck

boats passing eerily

through the thick, sultry air

boats of the forgotten

the misbegotten

forever on board

casting forever out to sea

jetsam of the ancient contradictions

of civilization

flotsam of the sad ironies of history

dreams lost forever

to the vagaries of the stormy seas

waiting eternally to reach distant shores

peaceful

empty bodies

of men, women and children

young lovers and small babies

slipping silently through lonely solitude

no where to turn now

but back out to sea

no where to turn

but away from home

forever and always

washing back in with the waves

splashing away with the sands

boats by the hundreds

souls by the thousands

forlorn and forsaken

bodies swallowed by the grand dragon

lurking in the darkest depths

blowing in the freezing breezes

howling in the harsh winds