On one of my breaks at work last night I decided to go back to the fantail of the ship. It was deserted back there; most people who work at the casino don't even know how to get to the fantail, or that they're even allowed to go back there. I'd worked there three years before I found out about it.

So it was empty and quiet. No yelling players, no clanging of slot machines, no thick haze of cigarette smoke. There was only the faint sound of music from the casino, and the creaking of the mooring ropes. It was full night, and there were enough clouds in the sky that there was no moon visible, so it was dark enough that water and horizon just bled together into one vast black expanse, broken periodically by distant flashes of green and red from ships and tugs traveling out in the Gulf. It reminded me of a song I used to sing with my mother when I was a kid, called "Barges."

Out of my window looking in the night,
I can see the barges' flickering light.
Starboard shines green and port is glowing red,
I can see them flickering far ahead.

Barges, I would like to go with you,
I would like to sail the ocean blue.
Barges, are there treasures in your hold?
Do you fight with pirates brave and bold?

* * * * *

Take moments of peace where you find them.