The great African American poet Langston Hughes penned poem after poem about the majesty of the sea, and the great African American artist Ashley Bryan, who’s spent more than half his life on a small island, is as drawn to the sea as much as he draws the sea. “Sail Away” is a celebration of mermaids, wildernesses of waves, and the creatures of the deep.

“He sits on a hill / Looking out to sea / Toward a mirage-land / That will never be.”

Langston Hughes “Sail Away”. Illustrated by Ashley Bryan. Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 2015. Bought thanks to a sold woven bookmark ❤️

Photos by Anna Iltnere / Sea Library