39

39

Fear

the moon

falling out of orbit,

the tides stopping

after their ebb,

the sun burning

it's hydrogen wick

to wax,

and the wind halting,

leaving a worn vessel 

to drift in the doldrums,

waiting to sink

with no drive

to reach its destined port.

-Robert L. Jackson III

Oceanic Myth

Oceanic Myth

In the iterative hallway 

lined with identical cabins,

the ocean was not visible, 

but Poseidon's power 

still tilted the rectangles 

in my mind.

My demigod and I 

walked away 

from a unfulfilled library, 

in the belly and without windows, 

containing only the tattered tales 

of Cousteau;

the room 

lost to the gleam 

of glass elevators 

and polished rails 

emitting lighthouse beams 

to attract destruction, 

like Alexandria.

Even the new steel 

welded in bulging seams 

could not resist 

ancient statues of Pan, 

submerged, but not yet lost.

Robert L. Jackson III