The following original poem, “Sacrifice”, is a guest contribution to The Fish Tank by Samantha Seto.  All intellectual property rights remain with the author.

 

SACRIFICE

 

I. Mystery of War

Slaves in sunken cities grow witless in quiet hell,

Bravery graces those who hold liberty.

 

Enough silence before gunpowder signals alert,

cannons fire, drums beat at the sound of crusade.

Christians asked Mary to kiss the holy seas.

We are prisoners in the battle.

 

II. Blue Sea

In a place hidden, toward the center of earth,

rampant hysteria among the men takes control,

blood-crescent moon appears overhead a shipwreck.

 

The wood on the ship is broken,

sailors flail in the waters,

beaten by heavy, equal winds,

we have just spotted enemy ships up ahead.

 

Shipmen on the harbor arrive with peace,

God questioned all of them,

Our lands are free to those who hold truth.

Flock of larks whistled in sunrise,

beckoning the colorful winds.

 

III. In God’s Eyes

Pope cast his arms around the compass

as if it would revive our direction on the sea.

The Lord will save us on rugged waters.

He has arrived on these lands to rescue us.

 

In the realm of madness, ruthless sailors struggle to hold on.

While we travel, eat bread and buttermilk for forty days,

In the middle of nowhere, we are sinful fighters.

The waters assures land awaits us past sunken moons.

 

Girls in rags pray on stairs for return of sailors,

dead bodies sink to the bottom of the sea,

dry wind brushes coarse sand off the land ahead,

shackles hold slaves back, making them bleed to death.

All the world is dead around this place.

 

We sail eastward, listen to myth in trilogies,

the last fair hero unknown to mankind.

 

Samantha Seto