High Seas Drifter

À la Dérive

Perdu en Mer

Prologue

I’m not sure there is anyone left

To understand any of this…

Chapter 1

An international orange raft

Is my craft

I drift in whatever current finds me

While no person tries

And all the words die

Chapter 2

The harsh sun blinds me to the infinite blue

I retreat into the shade of my canopy

And struggle to resist my insanity

Adrift in this sea of inanity

Nothing left is true

Nothing to do

Or to see

But blue

This hue

Blue

Adieu

Chapter 3

Bon Jour!

A sound

Not the wind

But a sound carried by it

From a dot of white within it

A tern needing rest from an interminable flight

Finds my orange dot for respite

As it settles alight

Chapter 4

Háu friend!

Enjoy your rest

(It seems skittish)

It does not yet understand

That my need of companionship

Transcends my hunger

My need to be understood is what I crave

What a silly creature I must be to him

To let my reason starve me

Epilogue

I read a poem to the tern

As I paused to turn the page

It flew away

JArtB

Sunday, June 21, 2026 0232

Fathers Day

Hello Dad

Notes: I awoke to the realization that people don’t read this anymore and the creative use of words and expression through poetry is a dying art. I realized that there is no one left to revel in it with enthusiasm and joy like I do.

À la Dérive — Adrift

Perdu en Mer — Lost at sea