The Ancient Mariner by Melanie Browne

didn't have an
albatross tied up
across the front
of the bar like I
thought it should
but it seemed like
a bar you would
dream up for yourself
if you wanted to
start a new life
and let your skin
become one with
your surroundings
much like the
Crow's Nest in
Gloucester,
I knew you
might be here,
a night off
from working
the Cog Railroad
but you were not
there and many
years had passed
and even the local
crowd had left
and replaced
themselves
with undertakers,
cutworms, and
dead ends
For years I tried
to write about
the sea,
barmaids
the smell of beer
trying to re-create
you but it
was just bad
foam -flecked
calligraphy
as I was just
a tourist

Melanie Browne is a poet and fiction writer living in Texas. She has been published in various journals and online literary magazines such as Pulp Metal Magazine. She has also been included in several anthologies, including Zombies Galore and Everyday poets 2.