Survivor’s Guilt
/By Hunter Brown
Italics indicate lyrics from the ballad “Bones in the Ocean.”
As the souls of the dead fill the space of my mind,
A collection of brothers, to tribute in kind,
I catch myself bargaining for time to rewind,
I'll search without sleeping 'til peace I can find.
I fear not the weather; I fear not the sea.
A life on the ocean, out there, I am free.
Though true that the grieved upon land disagree,
You’re not truly dead if they find no debris.
It’s na’er so clear, of this I tell thee,
Dead or alive’s not a state you foresee,
But a choice to believe who still sails on the sea,
Long past their call, a fate to envy.
If fates bring me to them, you won’t hear me plea,
I remember the fallen, do they think of me?
I will not find sorrow; I can’t turn lazy,
When their bones in the ocean, forever will be.
Original ballad: “Bones in the Ocean” by The Longest Johns
Hunter Leclerc Brown (he/him) is Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk), born and raised in Ottawa. He is a professional writing student at Algonquin College, class of 2025. A lifelong sci-fi nerd, gamer, and martial artist, he’s now an aspiring author.
You’ll find him most days with a coffee, a good book, and snuggling with his cats.
He has no plans to go sailing anytime soon.
