OLIVIA VANDE WOUDE - WHAT SITS BELOW

​Olivia Vande Woude is a junior at the College of William and Mary, where she is the co-editor of the Gallery Literary Magazine. She has been writing stories for most of her life, and has recently focused her attention on writing poetry. Her work has been featured in Literary Orphans, Oddball Magazine, The Legendary Magazine, Two Cities Review, The Cadaverine Magazine, Stepping Stones Magazine, Canvas Literary magazine, Tuck Magazine, and other publications. 

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What Sits Below

They sound our depths for all We wish to know.
Charting secrets Strewn on sea floors,
The vestiges of time behind, Vessels and bones of a schooner dethroned.
Struck dumb with a gust The Ida Francis heeled too much,
Heaving twenty lives into the reach, where currents seldom cease.
Bodies baptized by the briny, The pilgrims christen themselves
And debris drifting under the influence of wind and sea.
Clutching at life And crawling toward shore,
Their skin surrendered heat Their limbs caught cold
Until fishermen delivered them From frigid waters and fog,
As the ship fell To rocky realms
Her mast splintering the surface
Reminding them to watch For what sits below.

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