Aegean Aubade III

Aegean Aubade. Part III: A Reflection

The sea’s been smooth—as they say—as glass;
no wind but that our motors make.
So still, the ships’s reflection can pass
like Narcissus’ in the ancient lake.
In other wind and wave, the ship’s wood face
plunges deep, fends off a bow wave with a slap,
rocks and wallows, having lost all grace
to keep appointments made with schedule, map.
The sea’s face changes one day to the next,
and hour to hour; island headlands rise
like sails of clouds, come into view and go
in relation only to the position of our eyes.
Only this is certain, nothing is fixed
except what it is that we believe we know.

–by David Hirzel (first published in Fault Zone)

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