I Fade

This ocean pounds and laughs beneath my hull
As my sails fill 'nigh to bursting' upon the mast.
My hand grips the tiller hard, my brain crowded
With, "When this happens do this or that"s.
My heart pounds as the serf beats upon my ship
What made me think that I was ready for this?
Yet my hands stay firm and my head remembers to duck
as the boom swings by from jib to jab.
The sheet flies from my wet grip leaving a rope burn
gouged into my shaking hand.
The clouds build ever higher, the rain whips me
like a scourge across body.

The fear is ripe within me, ready for the match.
Lightening tears the sky and shows yellow and white blood.
The thunder sends me cowering in the hull.
I have to duck from the wild boom or I'll be sent over
If I don't retrieve it I'll be in the deep faster than anything.
The waves stir around me like a pack of wolves around the victim.
I can only imagine the sharks below waiting for leftovers.
The sheet escapes my grasp, the metal boom slashes the air.
I blank out.

I'm sinking. My life jacket is of no value. It is on the surface with the
boat, and I'm here. The water treats me as if I'm a rag doll, but soon
that will be of no consequence. I'm an invader in this vast body
about to be destroyed by its guardians. There they are.
I see the white bellies, the curious snouts.
The blood from my split head attracts them.
I fade.