Sea Legs

I hope you have sea legs, my father said to me
as we got on a fishing boat in a small town 
in Newfoundland. Sea legs, I thought, 
how peculiar that person can measure 
their ability to stand 
while the ocean waves crash against the sides
keeping us afloat

In Italy, as the dock swayed 
while l loaded my luggage onto the water-taxi 
with a bald Venetian man
Sea legs, I thought 
that's why I can stand. 
My mother smiled over,
as I stood up and breathed in the Adriatic 

In Toronto, the subway jerks to a stop
Sea legs, I thought,
that's why I can stand.

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