Love Poem: Not My Ship
Joy Bohland Avatar
Written by: Joy Bohland

Not My Ship

You were not
you were not my ship.

Simply existing in my deep ocean
that continues to deepen with every emotion.
I
thought I'd try you.
I
thought I'd try you.

Saw you occasionally on my shore
looking uninterested, even bored.
I don't blame you,
for the excitement's hidden in the blue.

I wouldn't call to you,
thought it was no use.
Once or twice 
I saw my waters catch your eye.
Waited for the day you'd want a swim,
remove your pre-judgements like clothes,
and jump in
you never did,
no you never did.

Only waded to the tops of your legs
where the shallowest part of me is.
So I couldn't pull you in.

Someday there'll be a ship
and someday I'll open up to him.
Give him everything I am and more.
Like a tidal wave
pull him in from the shore.
Pull him in, all the way in. 
All the way
til all the lights 
from all the lighthouses in the night
are out of sight
and he's all mine.

Even now without a ship,
I will still be an ocean.
I will always be an ocean.
And you were not 
you were not my ship.