something needs hiding

by Thomas McDade

There are ten ships left in the Ghost Fleet but not visible from the shore. Just forty Interstate miles east rosemary in the witch’s garden is still fragrant but I can’t pick anything up from the wormwood that’s strongly linked to the spirit world. What’s this? Lamb ear or tongue? Either way, it will protect you. A woman walking a beagle has a flower tattoo on her chest but who’d dare focus long enough to name it? Her friend’s upper arm art is more accessible but who could decipher? The river vessels can be approached by boat only. Pamphlet says keep 500 feet away. Grass and weeds cover parts of the rusty decks yet no mention of witchy herbs but what potent hints for tattoos as well as hexes flare out to treat field glass eyes. A cormorant four times the size of a raven lands on a mast and spreads its wings as if something needs hiding.

Photo of Thomas McDade

BIO: Thomas M. McDade is a 79 year old resident of Fredericksburg, VA, formerly CT and RI. He is a graduate of Fairfield University. McDade is twice a U.S. Navy Veteran serving ashore at the Fleet Anti-Air Warfare Training Center, Dam Neck Virginia Beach, VA and aboard the USS Mullinnix (DD-944) and USS Miller (DE / FF-1091). His fiction has most recently appeared in The Paradox Literary Magazine.