Cinéma Vérité

in today’s epic cinema

we are led to believe

that the heroes

and great warriors of our age

after bloody battles

and seemingly hopeless

struggles against evil

against insurmountable

darkness and odds

come to journey's end victorious

and are carried away on gray ships

with billowy white sails

to a distant shore

but it is not true

i have seen it

no sooner than when

the ships leave the harbor

the sea begins to stir

first an icy wind from the north

then flashes of cold lightning

then sheets of rain and swirling gales

then rips of canvas and

the splintering of masts and beams

and the crash of anchors loosed from chains

until all is a spiraling hurricane

where ocean and air are one

where monstrous rolling waves

horrible black mountains of water

crash upon decks

sundering timbers and limbs

a few of the heroes and great warriors

float back with the bloated tide

to the sandy beaches of the harbor

painted with bits of seaweed and debris

babies born again from the sea

their minds washed clean of memory and valor

most of the rest sink forever

to still depths of unfathomable night

clinging to a memory of light

only one or two we can hope

cleansed by the bitter salt

baptized by the rolling water

remember the strength of their arms

and open their eyes

and begin to swim