OFFSHORE

I have left the festivities

and come out into the night

under a vast umbrella of stars

mirrored on frigid harbor waters.

Alone, aboard my small craft, I shove off from shore

to better view the shimmering lights of the party.

From here the laughter and music meld

and make a sorrowful sound

as do the waves lapping against my boat.

Silently, the tide has taken me through

the mouth of the inlet and out to sea

to a distant place where the shadowy shoreline

has disappeared from view.

Here, from this lonely vantage

the view is so crystalline

that the fiery trails of prayers are visible

arching across the firmament--

and the silence so

that far in the dark distance

I hear them crashing back to earth.