As if held in mid air, undulating waves
support your massive-shelled form
our eyes lock, human and turtle merge.
For an instant, I see your life engraved
in my mind, struggles, survival…warm
currents drifting you on long-distance surges.
You mirror my own life, enslaved
through my making, a land storm
not the sea, just held on the verge
of contentment, joy, my soul saved,
and yet, like you, I continue to conform,
to deny myself freedom, afraid to emerge.
We follow paths that seemingly diverge,
yet here, where we meet, our lives converge.
The artwork above was painted by my most talented sister, Jan Odum.
Samuel Peralta invites us to try a Trireme Sonnet and other interesting ideas at dVerse Poets: http://dversepoets.com/2013/02/28/form-for-all-on-midwinter-magic-realism-and-a-trireme-sonnet/