John Budan
Captive
Rolling through heavy swells on the stormy Atlantic, the deck crew, on break in the galley, is warming up with hot coffee when an oiler from the steamy engine room joins us. He’s not wearing a shirt over his grease and sweat-caked body. Off starboard he spots the eastbound Queen Mary en route to Southampton and leans out through a porthole to have a better view. But he is unable to bring himself back in as his large abdomen becomes lodged. The crew’s initial laughter subsides to panic as we realize the seriousness of the situation. The salty spray of waves and the fierce winds on bare skin can result in hypothermia.
mariners at sea
a distant foghorn
punctuates the mist
About the Author
John Budan has published widely. He lived in France, where he found his alter ego Guignol in Paris at the Jardin du Luxembourg. His books include Just Enough Moon: Collected Haibun (2023) and Before the Rules: Tanka and Tanka Prose (2024).