Why are boats always women,
and where is Long Lake –
how you ride my mind
how to pet a dead horse
how to feed this hoop snake
and always why boats are women.
Why bathtubs crawl on fours,
and how water grows opaque
and still – you ride my mind:
run grey galleys worn and coarse,
teak and holly slats, the strakes.
If boats are always women
then men are the oars –
slicing pink for pink’s sake:
you ride my mind
in circles. There is no shore
for us, only questions cleaved in lake –
why boats are always women
and how you ride my mind.
Lenea Grace is a Canadian writer based in Toronto. Her work has appeared in such reputable mags as CV2, Washington Square, Grain, Riddle Fence, and elsewhere. She is the founding editor of The Mackinac and was recently selected for Best New Poets 2014.