The rains come again

They swarm the deck in silence,

They mask their approach in the toil of the storm.

They are the whispers that compel the winds and rain,

They are the prayers you never made.

They tatter the sails, they steal the sun,

They leave you sunk in a place like home.

And for a moment they will calm,

And the clouds will stain like the fire of sunset,

And the bruised silk of the night.

For a moment they are weightless,

And you are vulnerable in the breeze,

But can breathe. A beast alone,

Sodden and alive.

And with drowsy, sunken eyes you wait

For the voice snatched from your lungs to return,

Screaming back at you, calling you sinner,

Swarming you where you stand.

For a moment you welcome it.

They always return in silence, as the moon’s eye wavers.

You look to the stars and pray,

Because while the night sings you know

That someday the waves will take you whole,

That the winds will drown you out,

But for now they sit still.

They wait for you to breathe.