Wood and Steel - by Brian Narelle

Wood and Steel

first day at sea The steel deck hums

Rolling ocean bringing back dreams Of wooden ships and creaking ropes

Wood once home to squirrel and bird

Roots knowing darkness and moisture

This steel ship knows no life But for the guest in my cabin

A ladybug has stowed away with me

I place her in the steel drawer Of the steel desk On the steel ship

I bring her water And bits of food This ambassador of all living things Trapped in a cold steel world

That bug, a living icon Impossibly red with magic black spots I fell in love with her And all creation at the same time

But she did not survive

Heartbroken in mid-Atlantic A burial at sea Inside a matchbox coffin

The only wood I could find

- Brian Narelle