The Great Seas: The Sea of Blood

from the deepest caves it flows
within and up and down and over: fills us
to stay alive and pumping and flushed
the mother of life: carries us
our babies, our dreams, our disease
we, just vessels in the storm
floating: she moves us
riding waves of red in the dark
ebbing and flowing
thriving or dying, we ride
until it flows out
onto sheets and floors
deathbeds and streets
where it cannot be contained
by her warmth or spirit
from the harsh winds
to weary lungs and noses
from the hands of death
to the cool touch of
small fingers
that have lost their grasp.
to the dry and empty wombs
that have lost their heart
collapse: until the next circulation