Mapmakers of the Dawn

I set sail in a wooden boat across turbulent seas,
my most precious cargo beside me.
Powerful waves of all the gathered years pound violently 
against our vessel as sea monsters pursue –
gnashing their jagged teeth as I 
row and row.
The demons rise and swirl
forming misty mountains –
obscuring my view. 
They seek one last bite to cool
their burning addiction. 

It is of no consequence
that the path is hazy
because maps to freedom are often drawn
in the dark.

Those of us who take to the seas 
in the blackest of nights –
cutlasses of courage strapped to our sides –
will arrive on sunny shores
because we have become 
cartographers in the night,
mapmakers of the dawn.







Kelly Miller is a writer of fiction and poetry whose work has appeared in Gemini Magazine and The Drowning Gull. She currently works as a literacy tutor in the Toledo area with Partners in Education.

See more of her work in 8.3 and 8.3