the children and the cage
As they stood together in the same boat:
“I won’t force you,” Ishmael said,
they wondered if that were true at all
this great black mass of rain,
and wind was staining the sky
the force of the wind that tore through the sails
streaks of lightning that
clattered down from
the swirling clouds, toppling into the churning sea
the storm engulfed the children
and the villain, part of the same unfortunate event
the children stood up unsteadily
limbs aching from
clinging to one another all night.
squinting into the sun
maneuvering around the wreckage
standing on a coastal shelf
swirling black clouds scurrying away
and the air was silent and still
You had to look closely to see
that the mess of limbs and hair
and orange and yellow cloth was a person at all