Seajet fast ferry
from Crete to Santorini
looks calm at the dock
People file in
tourists
a soccer team
Five minutes out
waves plummet the vessel
children squeal with delight
A few more hard punches
bow rises and thumps hard
voices shriek
Advice comes over the speaker
stay in your seats
mind your children
People start reaching for barf bags
you can hear a child puke
too late for the bag
Too late for Dramamine
all the team
starts barfing
The crew is busy
handing out more bags
cleaning up messes
The children’s delight
turns into horror
some are crying out
I get my bag ready
It’s been awhile since I had motion sickness
now most everyone has it
If we are halfway there
no use to turn back
keep on going
Crossing the Sea of Crete
not even a storm
just some waves
Women and men tend to the children
I don’t know how they manage
when I move I barf again
There is a lull in the puking
stomachs have emptied
a rest from the vomit
Those who thought they could make it
raise their hand for a bag
their countenance broken
Quiet is disrupted now
with the sound of the dry heaves
deep from the guts on the vessel
I want only to hear that we have arrived
I search the horizon for land
I hold on so I don’t pass out
Grown men have been barfing too
some tried to make it
destination just too far away
Finally the crew woman speaks
we are getting close
what joy to my ears
The vessel enters the port
announced on the speaker
a boy yells hallelujah
Calm returns to the water
ferry stops bouncing
ashen faces move to the door
One man is carried off
on a support chair
to a waiting ambulance
wordshophop 