The only regret in this hollowed-out wreck

Remains the one she held

Like a suitcase as the boat horns blew

And she stepped off into boiling water

There will never be a time to repeat

Old phrases we used to love

To shout at the sailors’ backs when their

Tight triceps strained at the tiny striped sleeves

Water closes over the memory of dogs

Shaking out their tails from the fresh river

Where they paddled and scrabbled

Across muddy banks and the hem of her dress

A fear of heights and birds of prey

Kept her from pursuing the mountains

Even when we showed her photos of ranger men

Scandalous in their boys’ shorts, exposing beefy legs

She always missed the man she’d looked for

From a distance, scaling the great ship like a scar

Towing ropes and hauling her heart around

Carelessly, with no thought to where it might land

The only regret at the bottom of the sea

Remains the one she held

Until time eroded the letter from her fingers

And offered to the stars its confession