WARSHIPS

We live in the shadow of them, warships
so big, so totally outside
our experience they don't even look like ships,
just strange shaped clouds, patterns in the sky,

portents that you'd have to peer to see,
looking sideways. Their message is
a simple one. Smaller boats arrive
from the grazing ships, friends disappear,

attacked by something, out of the blue, it seems.
We act surprised, as if we hadn't known
all along, as if each day
didn't bring more losses, treasures hauled away

and half the sky a blankness where the ships
hide in plain view, always not quite there.