
Sue Short
Wavelength
Updated: Jul 25, 2020

WAVELENGTH
Tangled sheets and rotting decking litter the sandy ocean floor
Broken masts, covered in glossy brown seaweed, are draped across the rocks like knitting needles.
The barnacle-covered hull lies on its side like a dragon that has fallen asleep.
The once immaculate ‘Wavelength’ lays abandoned on the sea-bed
A few fathoms from the frothy ocean’s surface
This once-proud lady is now an unloved wreck.
The unfurled, once wind-filled sails, rotted away long ago.
Her anchor is the only remnant still intact
Her name was obliterated by the swirling currents.
Allegedly, a ferocious storm destroyed ‘Wavelength’ in one wrenching movement.
The mainmast, they said, struck by a lightning bolt.
So fierce was the storm that the crew were thrown overboard
Never able to tell their tale
What now lay on the sea-floor was not just a wreck
But a rotting mound holding many secrets
If ‘Wavelength’ could tell the world those secrets
She would describe them in one word: INSURANCE