That Terrible Sea | Poem by Bart Edelman

That Terrible Sea

Another tale I began,

But failed to finish.

These incomplete stories—

Characters trapped in limbo—

Lives aflutter, afloat,

Empty boats unmoored

With nowhere else to go.

I convince myself I’ll return.

Save them when I’m able.

Spare the lot from fates,

Even I can’t imagine,

Although it is my craft.

And late, each evening,

I hear voices cry out,

Catching me off guard,

Wailing for stolen moments—

At least, an explanation.

Yet I have no answers,

Not so much as a clue,

Drowning the poor souls—

Lost in that terrible sea.

Bart Edelman’s poetry collections include Crossing the Hackensack, Under Damaris’ Dress, The Alphabet of Love, The Gentle Man, The Last Mojito, The Geographer’s Wife, Whistling to Trick the Wind, and This Body Is Never at Rest: New and Selected Poems 1993 – 2023. He has taught most recently in the MFA program at Antioch University, Los Angeles. His work has been anthologized in textbooks published by City Lights Books, Harcourt Brace, Longman, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, the University of Iowa Press, and others. He lives in Pasadena, California.