Compelled Mysteriously

Mardelle Fortier

I am led by something felt

on the wind, something unseen in the stars.

Silver jewels hang so close they almost

drop in my boat – yet they

remain out of reach.

Why do I row toward Hawaii?

I am driven by secrets

in the salt breeze, mysteries

glinting on the waves.

My grandfather never came to Kauai

yet his wandering ways

run deep in my blood. Like him

I sail west toward the golden sunset

coming closer to a far-away dream.

Ahead looms the volcanic mountain

where Goddess Pele of fire and passion

lives in her burning home.

I stare until I become

part of the mist-entrapped mountain.

Something pulls me…

something written on the wind,

something moving

under the silk scrolls of the ocean.