Sea Thoughts Poem by Richard Blanch

Effortlessly, endlessly circling in the fiery sea
The creatures coil and uncoil. Are they aware? Are they free?
Are they mine? Where did they come from? In the coal
Black night I conjure them, question. Out of the hole
Of my head they come, bring with them Aegean days
And long ago times, mine and others’. Here are golden bays
Of myth, legend and terrifying close-up memories:
Friends flitting like bats and love gone on a breeze.


They are free but I am not. Chained to their turning
I twist and roll, passing regrets and joys, freezing, burning.