I breathe the cursed air
haunted fog with spectral halos
white horse waves roll at my feet
tossing dead souls as a sacrifice
I tried to warn them
but they ignored my light
and let the salty darkness
obscure their vision
Skeletal driftwood
splintered and sharp
pierces the heart
of human apparitions
Hope and safety
fade into the gray
arms of false security
disappearing into the sea foam clouds
Shape shifting selkies
reborn from the lost
cry tears to the ocean
and return to its arms
But the burning flames of time
in broken lanterns and weathered beacons
cannot reply
to broken desperation
Nothing remains but
blurry memories
like old photos
curled and ragged
Cathy Joyce Lee can be found forest bathing at night and paddling on the river by day in Upstate New York. Cathy earned a Master's Degree in Public Administration. This led to her profession of writing health and wellness articles and offering professional development training programs to preschool teachers. Cathy is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and has been published in Passager. It is the writer's hope that her poems will paint a picture in the mind of the reader that may be beautiful pastels or charcoaled darkness, both of which reflect life.