On the Ferry

by Kinjiro Tsukasa

Still within sight of land
We sway gently
Side to side
Sometime-sailors
In our own little seafaring world
Our cars and trucks
Rest in the belly of the beast
They rock as we do
And await our return
My cats await there, too
Above, the vacationing sailors
Talk, eat, drink, sleep, play, and knit
Water is calm today
No green faces to be seen
We draw farther away from land
The gentle rocking lulls me
Into a slumberous state
Chatterings of other passengers
Merge into an amorphous mass of sound
Only occasionally breached
"I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down!"
Murmurings recede
I withdraw back into my reverie
Immensity of water surrounds me
Sun shining through the port side
Almost reaches me on the starboard
Topside, a different world
Silence, few people thereJust water and wind all around
No spray today, because the sea is calm
Back in the cabin
Sound swells and recedes
Swells and recedes
Like the ocean waves
"Tim, don't sit there, you're getting all wet!"
"Who needs bananas?"
Scent of toast, fried eggs, and coffee
Coffee
To keep me awake for the driving yet to come
This short ocean voyage
A ninety-minute reprieve
From the daunting business of travel
I put my head down
Let myself be rocked to sleep
To be awakened by the captain's voice
When we reach the other side
Transition from water to dry land
I sadly bid "adieu" to the ocean
I will return another day

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