Dead Reckoning
July 9 2010

Dead Reckoning: “1. The determination without the aid of celestial observations of the position of a ship or aircraft from the record of the courses sailed or flown, the distance made, and the known or estimated drift. 2. Guesswork.” [Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition]


I have lost sight
of land.
The current takes me,
the tide moves under me,
the wind is at my back.

I navigate by dead reckoning,
so it is essential to know where my journey began
where I hope it will end.
And to keep meticulous track
of water and wind,
the powerful forces I cannot predict
or influence.

I have always hugged the coast
the fragrant shore,
the reassuring attachment to home.
But now, at sea
I am forced to cope,
ignorant of night, where the sun will rise
the stars of an alien sky.
The esoteric knowledge
I once so smugly despised.

Things happen
unexpectedly,
best laid plans go awry.
So I survive
day-to-day,
making my way by dead reckoning,
senses heightened
focus tight.
A life of close observation,
distilled down
to the elemental forces
the essence of things.

Or will I be
another unidentified traveller?
Presumed drowned,
lost at sea.