The Swan Poem by Jared Carter

Fettered to benches where the oars were broken off long ago, they had no choice but to row with their hands. While they strained toward the water below, the chains cut welts in their limbs, and the brine inflamed their flesh.

But in time their arms became elongated, and their sores were healed by the sea. Some rowed backward, some rowed forward, some merely threshed the waves. Always they struggled, new and old oarsmen alike, and the galley sailed on like a graceful swan.


First published in Eclectica Magazine.