Five Letters From A 21st Century Explorer To His Mother Poem by Iohannes Silvaticus

First and foremost,
I will always be a son.
Then an explorer,
A poet,
And finally,
A free man.


(i)
I am embarking on
The breaking of
Every bone in your
Flat-earth mentality.

I can understand
That you do not understand
Why the birds sing.
But just accept that
They herald the break of dawn.
As I am the light
That will illuminate
The dark recesses
Of your yesternight.

I am sorry.
For I am on the boat.

And the boat has already set sail.

(ii)
There is a pervasiveness
That the floodlight scattered
Upon dark waters has
On the Mind, Spirit, Soul.

The Titanic has met with icebergs.
But I am as fast at mending ships,
As I am getting into lifeboats.

(iii)
What is it that makes the waves?
I could swear that you are right,
Mother,
As I see the hull of steel
Cut the troughs and crests
Of life not yet discovered.

(iv)
I am reminded of you
As the seahorse tends its young.
We were not too different
In our enclave of tangled weeds.
I have you to thank,
For the trans-atlantic mustang
I have become today.

(v)
The journey takes its concluding breath
And I have learnt:
The tides follow the moon,
The waves sway with the wind,
The heart always leans home.
And my soul shall now take flight
Like a gull takes to the wind
For the surface of this ocean
I have skimmed.