By Ross MacKay
I am on an ark.
Bobbing on the ocean endless
Friends are fathoms far away
Further than the boat shall sway
So alone we sit upon the sea
With only our cat upon my knee
I am on an ark
There is no target destination
The tempest’s time has no duration
Land is promised or talk of it at least.
Talk of it, always talk of it
But the tempest twists and turns the tide
And like a corkscrew we return
And it all begins again
Bobbing on an ocean endless
I am on an ark
Wave after wave
I am on an ark
Peak after peak
I am on an ark
We roll up the sails
And baton down the hatches
But the leviathans jaw has endless snatches
And 45,000 souls
have become coral.
I am on an ark
But the cat on my lap has no interest in procreation
She sees no benefit in the recreation
to start the worlds repopulation.
But my partner has a belly full of hope.
We tether ourselves with love and rope
And pray the storm will pass.
I am on an ark
And I see rainbows everywhere
Painted on windows and submerged pavements
Streaked through sapphire skies
We are on an ark
And my child, new, is in my arms
Tomorrow we will reach the land,
And start the world anew
Ross MacKay recently won the William Soutar Poetry Award and Tom McGrath Trust Maverick Award. His debut novel for young readers, Will and The Whisp will be published in 2022.
Why I Wrote: I wanted to capture the strange feeling of being a new dad in the weirdest time of our lives.
Beautiful poem, I enjoyed reading.