One Against the Sea

Author: Stephen W. Cote

I shear my chest unto the sea

How the gale and waves berate me

Pounding my soul on an anvil

A hollow heart and shattered will

I sacrifice myself to thee

Tempestuous cursed frailties

My spirit is but volcanic glass

The sole remainder of my past

Into this foundry I decry

Venomnous spittle in my eye

Beaten down by this gorgeous sea

A clockwork soul breaks down in me

Stand up! Get on your feet! I wailed

Their words flew like hooks and impaled

On the anvil I lay exposed

Ash for my skin and shredded clothes

I chose to face the open sea

Now lay prone in quiet agony

I allowed the waves and the swells

To strike and corrode this airy shell

I, alone, one against the sea

Against the aristocracy

Of hateful hearts and poison minds

Just one more battered soul in time