Mighty Gideon

1
Race the waves, race the seagulls, press the starfish
five fingers deep
with the soles of your run. Who shall stop you?
This town is just storefronts of wood and paint, here
comes the town drunk in the strongman's wheelbarrow,
they are both singing.
Surely you don't run from this?
Pick a name, my girl
pick a ship and don't waste life
time fighting the constable or the words. Run,
fight with your feet. Jump into the sea. Will it be at sea?
Will it be storms my girl? A squall or a fight with God?
Will it be a man, a duel, a plank
my darling, will you die a pirate's death?

2
In the swamp where snakes curl and heat
rises in/visible waves from the water heavy
and termite nests wrap around tree trunks, there is a boat

tied to one of the gnarled roots pushing
out, above and into the dank water. Painted
in sloppy old-fashioned letters on the side: Mighty Gideon

is somehow still afloat as the river passes low
south toward the ocean to see the sun
disappear and the lights in Port of Spain rise,

all tropical and urban as the heat pushes through
into evening. This is her boat. The girl who talks with snakes and stars,
a new pirate in an old world.