For all the Vagabonds Lost at Sea
I spent the summer on my back, staring at the sea Lying in the sand, grieving with all the other vagabonds I could see Bermuda, I could see broken down ships lost for centuries, I saw Earhart, I saw you in the middle of it all it seemed as if you were having a nice conversation, looking at The wreckage, and I was jealous, I never knew you liked pilots before
I was fuming in the hot sand, I don’t even know what for Hoping for the waves to come in and drag me out to sea Alas, the land was too vast, the ocean too far from where I sat Alone, I waited for you, longing with all the other vagabonds I couldn’t meet your eyes, you wouldn’t even look at me, not at all With Amelia by your side, and Elvis on your back, my hope was lost
The air grew cold, as my body trembled in exhaust You were my trail of stones, my way back home, four seasons will pass and maybe four more, till you find the gall to find your way to my arms, to fly with Amelia across the sea to guide me back to bed where I will sleep with all the other vagabonds until then I will lay on my back, waiting, preying like a cat
I will howl your name, I will stalk you in my dreams, here at The meeting place, where I will find what has been lost Where I will make peace with death, like all the other vagabonds In your shipwreck, I see, you are keener than before you still won’t look at me, only the aeroplanes over the sea as Anne Frank laughs and sings, “how strange it is to be anything at all”
But still I will wait, rubbing my wounds with salt My patience will grow strong, my faith sharp, so that that which has been lost in the abyss of the sea Will find its way back to me, back to me at last To hold in my arms, to guide me back home, back to before My days longing at the waves, of begging as a lonely vagabond
You, my love, can’t look past the sea— past Anne, Amelia, Elvis, peace, and all vagabonds lost— my love, I know too well, you’ll never find me