October Ocean
In these October days, the sun goes white, while the sky darkens, taking the sea with it into a cobalt blue. Probably the last day I will be able to sail this year, I set off downriver beam reached to a westerly. “She was sailing herself, from the river to the bay, I could feel the breast of swell beneath my feet …” - this song has been working in my head all summer, but I can’t find the best next lines.
The trees are at their height of fire, so that even the islands were aflame. By the time I was free of the arms of the river, it had backed around to the southeast, and I shaved the White Islands and skirted around Outer Heron and its ledges. I said hello to Damariscove, but then climbed up the easterly to Pemaquid to see how Tammy’s house was progressing, then eased across John’s Bay to Crow Island. I beat my way up the Thread of Life, and then laid off around Pumpkin to reach up the river again to the mooring. A world to a world in six hours.
It’s all sparkle in the fall, glinting off each wavelet, cat’s paws of wind on the water - the threat of winter and the last sigh of summer all at once. I am glad I went - today is gloom and drizzle, and I mjust back to work.