At Sea

This poetry class assignment was to base our poem on a photograph, beginning it with the phrase, "In this photograph, (the subject) is..." It also had to follow a 'real' form. :) This was kind of weird for me, because I'm not big on form when writing poetry (I'm not that creative!). Anyway, I decided to use a ballade form for this- three 8-line stanzas, and a 4-line "envoy."

I really enjoyed writing this. One, it's past 11 PM, and anything can be fun late at night. Haha. Also, I'm listening to Jon Foreman, always an uplifting experience. (Currently- the Winter EP, "White As Snow.") Thirdly, I adore my little brother. He is soooo cute! (click on the picture above and take a peek at his gorgeous face.) :D Spoiled to death, sure, but he is ADORABLE. Anyway. I hope you enjoy this poem a bit. :)

At Sea

In this photograph, my brother steers the ship
Hand over hand, navigating through surf and spray
He stands resolute on the deck
Feet (smaller than my hand) firmly planted
Socks irregular heights from the heat of combat
Tousled hair as the wind gusts
Eyes focused on the ship's wheel
Hand over hand, the fearless captain

Overhead, the clouds turn ashen
Blue is slowly being devoured
The sun still beats
Through a window in the heavens
Enough to take the sting off the breeze (no, the gale!)
The spritz the captain feels is the lawn sprinkler
But don't tell him that
Hand over hand, the stout leader

Moments before, he was cheering on his men
He dashes up the stairs
To guide the ship past yet another disaster
In his ears, cannons are roaring
Seagulls caw, debris splashes
A bullet whizzes past his ear
Unperturbed, he knows his duty
Hand over hand, the unyielding commander

You may see protective plastic
But he knows where he really is
The deck of a pirate ship
Hand over hand, my brother, the little sailor.