SEAWORTHY by Annelies Mohle

I’ve recently begun to play

Age of Empires, losing myself

in resource management,

castle-building, and the like,

and learning that I spend

longer than is needed building

up my army and defenses,

cavalry, watchtowers, and walls,

when I could have, half an hour ago,

marched my troops upon the foe,

and defeated them with ease.

and now I wonder,

is every ship I have in port

for construction or repairs

already champing at the bit,

or in need of just a little more care?

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Annelies Mohle is a writer and ESL instructor from rural Ontario. She attended the University of Guelph, where she studied English Literature and Creative Writing and was first published in student-run magazine, Kaleidoscope. She has since been published in fron//tera and Canadian Stories. She can be found on Instagram @jottingthingsdown.