Jonah

We sail into a calm sea
and are far away from land
when that heavy storm unleashes
with its fury,

but below in the hold I am sleeping
and when I wake
I hear men running up and down

and then one bows over me
with a bright oil lamp in his hands
and the ship jerks with every wave

that slaps against it and others breaking over it
and a hand is stretched out to me
and I am pulled to my feet.

On deck I see thunderbolts
falling everywhere around us and the wind
howls as if it’s mad

and the tiller man shouts pray man pray
and maybe your god will hear you
as we have already prayed and pleaded

and this ship will just now
break under us, into pieces
and the ship creaks, shudders

and tumbles up and down
when the captain asks for a dice
and the lot falls on me

and with the howling wind
and lightings resounding
and the sea that foams wildly
I am thrown into the water

and while I sink and think that now
I am going to drown, I pray and beg for help
and a big fish swallows me,

a really big thing
and then I think that now I am in real jeopardy,
then God takes his decision

and it chucks me out
at Nineveh
I see the light.

poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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