Beneath the Wave

Fig 4.  Beneath the Wave off Kanagawa. 1830

"The lotus flower has opened, has opened, has opened.

Even as I thought I has opened--lo!
Yattokosa--It has closed again."--Traditional Geisha Song

There are some stories sailors never tell
of waves so tall they swallow boats and all,
in far, cold waters.  They can form a wall,
and bloom like flowers straight from some great hell.

The snow-capped top stays stationary here,
while hand on hand on hand curls up to grab.
Those fools sail out in boats so long and drab
they could be coffins formed by Fuji's tears.

I do not weep for sailors or their wives
for in the distance, I can sense a wave.
It will en-wrap me soon.  I feel it crave
to take me with it, somewhere from this life.

I know not when it comes, that last
blur forming at the edge of time.  It waits
and opens to ensnare me with its hate.
It forms a fist to break me in its grasp.