contemporary haibun Online: An Edited Journal

March 2009, vol 5 no 1

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Beverly Tift

Sea of Lost Ships

I'm becalmed in my mid-fifties, so unable to see the future or let go of the past that like the ancient navigators of the Sargasso Sea who couldn't perceive movement of their ships amidst the drifting seaweed believed that they were trapped, I am trapped.

Antique maps of the world depict this area of the Atlantic Ocean with sailing vessels being devoured by the sargassum and folklore tells of weed-shrouded ships eerily deserted, forever marooned in the doldrums.

morning rain
on the bedroom floor
tangled sheets

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