Close to the EdgeA Poem by David Lewis PagetMy 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 © 2012 David Lewis PagetFeatured Review
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Added on January 8, 2012Last Updated on June 6, 2012 Tags: sailor, yachts, horizon, quinquereme Author
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