Close to the Edge

My father was a sailor

He was always off the shore,

And I’d watch his sailboat ‘Ransom’

As it gaff-rigged past our door,

And he told me - ‘When you’re old enough

I’ll show you where they dwell,

The mermaids, with their necklaces,

Made out of cockleshells!

 

Then out on the verandah

He would stare straight out to sea,

Where the sun meets the horizon

Then he’d sit me on his knee,

And he’d tell me tales of Morgan,

Tales of Captain Kidd and Co.,

When they roamed the Caribbean

In the days of long ago.

 

He would sail out in the summer,

He would sail out in the fall,

He would sail to the horizon

In the mist, and through a squall,

And he always took his bo’sun

‘Shifty’ Dick, who trimmed the sail,

Drank the ‘Ransom’ dry of whiskey,

Lashed his wrist, hard to the rail.

 

Then one winter, storm capped waters

Beat unceasing on our shore,

And my mother lit the lantern

Kept a vigil by the door.

But the ‘Ransom’ kept its secrets

Never came to shore again,

And my father joined the history

Of all seafaring men!

 

I grew and took my lessons

In a little trailer-sail,

When my mother wasn’t watching;

She would cry, and she would wail:

‘Don’t you ever let me catch you,

Staring, looking out to sea,

It’s enough I lost your father…’

‘Never fret! You won’t lose me!’

 

For years I watched them leaving,

All the magic sailing boats,

Some were worth a clear million,

While some could barely float!

I watched as they sailed out, and then

I watched on their return,

But some were lost forever,

Sunk - Exploded - Overturned!

 

I bought a gaff-rigged schooner,

It had seen far better days,

But I patched it and I painted it,

I called it the ‘Sea Haze’;

I took it out with friends -

We didn’t venture out too far -

But learnt to jib, and trim the sail,

To run along the shore!

 

Then finally I headed out

To where it all began,

Beyond the far horizon

Where the ‘Ransom’ cut and ran,

The clouds began to gather

And the shades began to steal,

The waves broke on the forward deck

And I clung to the wheel.

 

The storm clouds that had gathered

Opened up and thundered rain,

It beat upon the masthead, and it

Lashed the sagging main,

It soaked my tiny cabin and it

Churned the heaving sea,

The waves on the horizon

Lay in wait out there, for me!

 

I sailed right through some warp of space

Or time, or so it seemed,

For then it was I caught a sight

Out there - a Quinquereme!

The rows of oars were stilled, I saw,

But some unholy moan,

Broke through the madness of the storm

And chilled me to the bone!

 

And then I saw a Galleass,

And then I saw a tramp,

To port there was a Brigantine

To starboard there, a lamp!

A single lamp to light the way

I took my bearings then,

No sign of a horizon there,

I sailed toward the end!

 

The sea, it fell away just there

And all I saw was space,

The ancients said the earth was flat,

My heart began to race.

A thousand ships lay still out there

A Cruiser, Barque, a Dredge!

They’d sailed in space there since the day

They sailed right off the edge!

 

The ‘Sea Haze’ raced along a line

Just inches from dismay,

I turned the wheel to head back home,

To live another day,

And then I saw the ‘Ransom’ turning

Slowly in the sky,

While ‘Shifty’ Dick, still tethered,

Floated wide and still and dry!

 

The ‘Sea Haze’ sits at anchor still

Just out from my back door,

She sank a dozen years ago,

Sat down, hard on the shore.

I never stare out at the sea,

The sea I thought I knew,

For who’d believe the earth was flat?

That’s right! - Not even you!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Lena M. P.]

The call of the sea is a powerful siren and no woman can compete to one who hears the song. Not wife, not mother not girl can hold their own to the beauty and lure of the calling. But the sea is a fickle mistress and her temper harsh to those who fail to respect and fear her. He was lucky to have lived to tell the tale. Excellent feel with the drama only you can add.

[patricia]

love the rythm as always, and the superb unfolding story, with all its emotional twists and turns.
Some intriguing words here...Quinquerene, Galleass. I sat up at Brigantine...being a Brigantian myself.
Love all the sea terminology.
What can I say? This is all the stuff I love. Thankyou.

[Priscilla Sayers]

I absolutely love your flow and how you always tell a story. A sad tale of a father lost, a mother in mourning and a rebellious son who learned his lesson from experience as many must do. A fabulous tale and one I enjoyed. So thank you!

[Tate Morgan]

What a tale to tell If only we all had as many and as vivid adventures as your mind seems unerringly able to conjure and tell

[Jazique]

Oh I liked that I mean you had some rhyming things going on and nice name the "Sea Haze" for the ship. By the end I finally got the title Close to Edge as even the earth has and thats why I adored the last part "The sea I thought I knew, For who'd believe the earth was flat? That's right!-Not even you!" And I believe that. Anyways well done and thank you for telling me you published this and which you should actually do one day as your poems just seem like something that should go down in textbooks of history as they tell such wonderful tales. Bravo and thank you for bringing a smile to my face for a poem that brought tragic, mystery, joy, and at the end even a sense of humor.

[J Todd Underhill]

Another fine volume to your collection, this one is a grand tale of sea adventure that is unmatched!