Fog Poem

When the fog sets in you realize
That we never hear anymore
The creak of the dock
The whir of the ships
The waves meeting the rocks at the shore
There’s a ship tied to the bollards with
Thick fluorescent pink rope
Throwing its weight
Left and right, left and right
But when the pink rope loosens
A seaman always comes back and pulls it tight

The ship rocks for the sea
And floats without the crew
That night I swore to solitude
In the same moment I found true love
You reached your hand
I gave you my wrist
Tie me to your bollard because
This is where I want to be moored

I’ve never seen your face but we all know
It’s all a facade
I’ve seen your long black hair
And the care you take when you clamp my wrist
I’m being led down the dock
The ship retreats in the fog
But you don’t stop
I don’t either
I want you to turn around
I want to be with you
Hold your face when you cry
Cry with you
Fog the mirror in your shower
Tie you down
Be tied down
Throw you overboard
Get broken down and sold for scraps
Get covered in algae after
Years and years of forgetting
I want to tell you that
You’re so beautiful in this fog
In this fog I was so lost…
But I was yours to find!
We should settle down on the dock
We should raise chickens on the dock
And never see again
All I need is the sound of the sea
And the rubbing of your hand on my wrist
Only that night
You loosened your grip
And you retreated into the blank page
An arm outstretched
A hand disembodied at the wrist
Five fingertips reaching for me

That night I slept on the dock
And when I woke up the fog cleared
And as I feared, you went with it
You left me for a seaman, didn’t you?
Lies, deceit, I get it. I’ll forget it
I’ll forgive on your return
Although…
I know you.
You wouldn’t cheat
You wouldn’t leave
You just got lost just like me
I should’ve held on tighter
But I’ll find you now
With my eyes fogged
I wandered the dock
Falling over every rock and every hole in the planks
I felt my feet over sand
I saw your arm
Sticking out of the ground
Reaching for the sky like a bollard
Get up
Please be breathing
Dig now with your hands
Dig now until your nails peel
And your fingers bleed
Dig now for hours and hours
Dig now until you’re the one buried
When the arm was finally free
I could see before me
A mannequin with one polyethylene arm outstretched
Wearing a wig with tendrils of long black hair
Tied to a shopping cart
With thick pink rope

That night I slept on the dock
Hoping for fog the next morning
So that I can find you once again