The Sail

by Ian Li

Far off the coast, the Great Sail

stands in the ocean and stretches

into the sky, where stars keep it company

and the sun takes care not to knock it over.

My mother teaches me to judge time

from the Sail’s infinite shadow;

my father recounts tales of royalty

and explorers paying their respects—

yet it remains a stoic statue,

never billowing.

To most, it fades

into the backdrop of life—

like sky and earth,

day and night.

But it tempts me

with whispered promises of adventure,

so much that I tremble at night

dreaming of the new skies it will bring—

our oceans will shrink to mere puddles

next to the celestial seas we’ll traverse.

When courage seizes me, I take a ship

to accept the Sail’s offer, nudged along

by soothing waves and timid breezes.

Where it dwells in the sea,

it’s just the Sail and me,

an ant and a tree,

a child and a queen.

Drifting close, my forehead touches the mast,

my desire surging skyward like a firework

until the Sail heaves, summoning rousing winds.

Our world rumbles and groans,

dragged from its slumber. 

The serene ocean swells for the first time,

as does my heart. I look up with tears—

the stars have become streaks of light.

Ian Li (he/him) is a Chinese-Canadian writer of speculative fiction and poetry, who started writing less than a year ago after a lifetime of believing he could never be creative. In addition to writing, he also loves economics, game development, spreadsheets, and brain teasers. Find his fiction published or forthcoming in Abyss & Apex, Solarpunk Magazine, and BSFA's Fission, and his poetry published or forthcoming in Star*Line, Eye to the Telescope, and Worlds of Possibility, among other venues. Learn more at https://ian-li.com.