Wake
(Leaving Amorgos, Greece)

The ferry pushes the sea,
forces a long, white reply
that speaks of where we’ve been –

a hulk of rock, a prison
in the time of the Colonels,
now a place of painted chairs,

fairy lights. I lean over,
try to read the disarranged water,
the sea in dark mode.

I count the times we’ve
come and gone. More
behind us now than before.

We sail on, past other islands
brothers gently sleeping.
The white scroll

reaches back,

undoes itself.

Katherine Duffy lives in Dublin. Her poems have appeared in many publications, including Poetry Ireland Review, Crannóg, The Interpreter’s House, etc. She has published collections with The Dedalus Press (Ireland) and in 2018 a pamphlet with Templar Poetry.