mud swamps

creatures of the mud swamps
dreaming of ships that never cross the bar
only ships in bottles, no winds, no sails
feet trapped in derelict rigging
wedged in the mud, water, and grain
too far to reach a distant ocean
and beaten by the heat of the red sun
waiting for it to set on the horizon of blue
all that is left of a life lived in the waterless sea of abandoned dreams.