After W.S. Merwin’s Traveling Together
If we are lost at sea I will
wait for the sun to swallow
the moon’s dark magic. Kneel
at the mercy of Mayari.
If our oars fall to the bottom
we will take turns
oaring the other. Outsing
sirens beckoning us to ghost ships.
Where lighthouses are lightless,
we will shape our bodies
into an SOS. If no one comes
we will wait for the sun
to outlive eclipse after eclipse after eclipse
while the sun is there.
For Lia.
Gretchen Filart
Gretchen Filart is a BOTN and Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and essayist from the Philippines. Her works center on motherhood, love, healing, nature, and intersectionalities and received distinction from phoebe’s Spring Poetry Contest and Navigator’s Travel Writing Competition. Connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.