The sea, the sea

Image

the rolling sea

sea talk

Gibson’s Steps Beach, south west coast, Victoria.
Talk to me about the sea
of sand drift and sea breeze murmurings
of tidal sliding and wavelets gliding
onto a peaceful shore

of curling surf and whale songs
of towering waves and sailor’s graves
of a blow driven chop hard to cross
and the constant desire for more

of rock pool eddies of a wind unsteady
of sudden squalls and risking all
of unpredictable storms defying norms
of salty landless freedom

of reflected moonlight and sunsets bright
of dolphins playing and albatross staying
of cutting the water and catching fish
of life in Neptune’s kingdom

of thunderheads piled high or a cloudless sky
of seabirds arriving splashing and diving
of phosphorescent wake so easy to take
of distant horizons all around

tell me tales about the briny sea
how to travel a weather filled journey
crossing oceans wide upon the tide
and I’ll take you where I’m bound

The brutal sea

I was beckoned by the land
it called me from the brutal sea
the land fictitious
beckoning me
was not real
I now see
and that is how
the brutal sea
drowned me

The mariner

I navigate life as a mariner
sailing unpredictable seas
Respectful yet wary
of what they might bring to me

the sea is my natural element
alternating tranquility with power
for me there is no better firmament
to anchor each ticking hour

the waves provide each peak and trough
of life’s brief and epic journeys
that for me is always enough
with the pleasure and pain they have earned me

afloat I bob between the layers of over and undersea
in my boat my capsule of life I bob most jauntily
when l’m aloft the view ahead is a matter of degree
when down below the view is fine,not seen murkily

time will come I’ll be called down deep by Davy Jones
my time of clear air or storms on water will be done
I’ll find a sandy bed to rest and place my ageing bones
afar from the binding land, eyes dead to the blinding sun

Dreaming of Salt Water

Having just finished the complete series of inspirational Aubrey / Maturin historical novels I am left to reflect, had I read them as a boy I may well have run away to sea.

The sea the sea the rolling sea
Is all that I adore
Let me let me be upon the sea
Mother dear, I implore
Beside stern lantern’s fading light
I’ll wave to fading shore
To sail away year and day
And learn the ocean lore
A seaman right and able I’ll be
A landsman never more