Ghost on the Water

Ghost on the Water


I awakened the next morning
to the familiar sound of the ferry’s
insistent horn as it chugged blindly
through the San Juan Channel.

The fog that rolled in with the rain
was thick and completely obscured
the rising sun. When I lived
on my sailboat in the Santa Barbara harbor,
our slip was right next to the end
of the breakwater and might as well
have been inside of the fog horn.

Fog horns, while somewhat romantic
from afar, are more than somewhat annoying
when they continuously bleat
their warning only a few yards
from one’s ears. I much prefer
the romance of the vessels that glide
on the water and sing, slightly off key,
to each other.


Alex Shapiro October 2009

Posted over on Notes From the Kelp