Salvage

Ear pressed against the flecks of peeling paint.
Eyes closed against the garden's greenery.
My toes in grass, your sails caught fast, at sea.

"Land ho!" I parry pirates on the lawn
And walk your plank to land in buttercups;
then swim with sharks--such Navy Larks with you.

Cruel storm issued abuse and swift decay,
to leave, like jetsam, spewed upon our beach,
Old boat--sad tossed, whole oceans lost--now mine.

I hug the keel torn by crustaceans' barbs;
salt rubs my lips in whispers to your soul.
My Captain's oath, pledged to my boat, made law.

Warm summer breeds the algae on your hull
and sends the scent of seaweed through the house.
I dream of coves, of treasure troves, to find.

But now my memories have all but gone,
I can't recall your log book, nor your name.
Oh, ship of mine, salvage the time we sailed.

(18 lines)

ID: 701412   (Rated: 13+) Lexi's Poetry Challenge  **** preparing for round 47**** by Lexi Ashen Married John Ashen

Format: 12 to 25 lines, each stanza must use the same pattern

Device: internal rhyme- rhyming that occurs within the line (rather than at the end).

Topic: a childhood memory (good or bad)