Sunday, June 2, 2013

The Viking Raid


Under a cloudless sky she sat
staring out at the sea shimmering
silver in the morning sun,
searching for the promised glimpse
of a sail upon the horizon, a glimpse
unlike the first, when sails appeared
and surrounded them, their tiny isle,
and bearded men in horned helmets
rained terror and destruction, except
for the blond man with a young beard
who claimed her with hands gentle
in their  pillaging roughness.
And now, the sleeping child next to her,
she stares out at the sea shimmering
and feels the terror of not seeing
a sail upon the horizon.

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