Little Blue Boat

                               by Joanne Allen

 

That boat - that little blue boat

See it over there ?

Yes, with the white at the hull

stuccoed with rust

wet brown painter

tying it down

anchoring it to the sole of the lake?

 

Well, that boat gently tilting in the waves

I sat in its lap when I was 3

never saw it before

and I wouldn’t get up or out of it

 

We travelled for miles together

whether I was in it or not

it afforded me

a place to be

an infinite understanding

a kindred spirit

 

Now the boat’s broken

age eating at the frame

the boatman’s been out to fix it

and he has

to an extent

 

But we don’t know

we don’t know yet

if it’s going to go again

like it has

like it was

it was so sturdy

 

I’m nudging it with oil

the promise of a new sail, another trip

and it’s trying

I’m sure it’s trying

it could have another 10 years

I was counting on another 10 years

to be ruddered

 

© Copyright   Joanne Allen - THACS Writers Online 2020