More

More has called me like the siren’s song

since I was a child

but there was no rocky shore

just vast open sea

no landmarks and sign posts, nothing to hold

sometimes a sunset or a songbird

a dolphin or a warm breeze

the moon and stars

but nowhere to land

I sailed on, sometimes seeking

sometimes in despair

alone

I saw many mirage

felt the heartache when they faded

but they gave me shapes and colors

they filled out a vision of what more could be

– not quite like that, this but bigger, that but brighter

until I began to feel more

to make out some notes of the song

and feel the vibration in my body

and discern the mirage from the real thing

I passed pirates and imperialists

joined them, battled them

and then other castaways

following a song

with similar notes

they could see things I could not

they had senses I had yet to develop

we tied our rafts together

just momentarily

we were not alone

after years of floating, catching the wind

clinging to my raft in storms

humming the song to soothe me

I began to understand the water

to read the breezes

to befriend the dolphins

to align my rhythms with the sun and stars and moon

even when I was solitary on my raft

I began to feel less alone

to feel, across the great expanse,

that others are out there seeking the same song

I began to know the song

I couldn’t get to it

grasp it

but I could sing phrases

and when I met others seeking

we could sing to each other the parts we knew

and the song became more whole

A sour note would sweeten

a dull one brighten

what had felt like the end of the song

would become a new verse

we would sing to each other as we floated

no longer doubting more

now we are taking our rafts apart

and building a ship

we sing while we work and

together we have all the parts and pieces and odds and ends

to make something magnificent

a sea vessel that can weather any storm

and a song that can call the winds and make the stars shimmer

as we sing and build, our song is carried off

people floating

and those not yet at sea

hear the song and wonder

could there be more?

some will find their way to us

in time maybe we will find that rocky shore

for now, we dance on the bow