Alexis Rotella

The Sea Remembers

Get ready. The boat leaves in an hour.

I don’t feel like it.

We’ve been talking about going on this whale watch for months.

My husband’s bicep starts to throb, so intensely I watch  from across the room. Something inside wants to get out.

What’s going on?

I don’t know. I just feel weird.

Close your eyes. Try to relax.  Count from one to ten. Relax your toes, calves, buttocks, back.

Where are you?

On a ship not far from here. I’m the captain. We’re going down. The ship is breaking apart. Waves muffle the screams of my men.  A shark sinks its teeth into my arm. All I see is red.

typing up loose ends the spider

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About the Author

New to Greensboro, NC, Alexis Rotella has been writing Japanese poetry forms in English since the late 1970s. Her most recent books, Scratches on the Moon (haibun) and the anthology Unsealing Our Secrets (MeToo Stories) earned Touchstone book awards. Her latest anthology, Grandmother’s Pearls, is available on Amazon/Kindle, as are a number of her books.