Crustaceans

Crustaceans                                                                                                      
 
Coming to the end of a long voyage.
Time to dry dock my little sails-struck boat
 
before it’s retired altogether;
it’s hull to be scraped clean of crustaceans
 
accumulated over a lifetime
(many lifetimes, You say),
 
attachments that slow me down,
alter the course, thwart my purpose,
 
distort and conceal my original shape and colors –
to the point of my mistaking
 
these ragged appendages for being
an intrinsic component of the boat itself. 
 
My Lord has taken up the task
with various abrasives, chisel and rasp –
 
the simple technique of showing me
each foul accretion and the damage done,
 
slowly returning to and revealing
the useful, shining, seaworthy hull beneath.
 
O child of God, let Meher prepare your vessel
for your next venture into the great unknown.