The Sailor's Song

"can be read as a companion to The Seafarer"

Aye, I've heard the sirens sing,

sung myself round the globe--
from Piraeus to Chittagong,
Blackpool Boston Dakar
Bahia Blanca Bali and on--

the song's the same.

Wherever a heart rides

an aching wave
for sight of a homeward bound sail,
stands forlorn
until the departing keel's

sunk into the hard horizon--
the song's the same.

In grief or
unknown certainty,
whether a bride or widow
be her soon delivered fate,
I've stood many a dark hour
in doors to listen to
the keening pitch
of a shore-tied maiden--
the songs never change.

For love's a cruel mistress,
care's little for the ragin' wake
she leaves behind:
if fortune deals a sailor's hand
it's foregone
there's only loss for those left--
the song, the song, the song

ah Lord, the song's

always the same.

Ken E Bujold

©2022

Author's Note

born out of fragments and excised bits of The Seafarer. A companion, from the point of view of those left behind.

Reviews

[Nima.Hope]

"Wherever a heart rides
an aching wave
for sight of a homeward bound sail,
stands forlorn
until the departing keel's
sunk into the hard horizon--
the song's the same."
I just can say that these lines are awesome. Nicely penned Ken.

[Ken e Bujold]

thank you Nima, glad you enjoyed

[Patricia Wedel]

A sea-faring story of a Storm that left a Maiden forlorn as a flower fading forevermore… gently, Pat

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks Pat, glad u liked

[Writergurl]

Piraeus to Chittagong,
Blackpool Boston Dakar
Bahia Blanca Bali and on--

Never heard of these places, this is interesting, quite enjoyed this write a lot.

[Ken e Bujold]

thank you WG, glad you liked the poem.
Piraeus to Chittagong...ancient port cities, Blackpool Boston Dakar, cities involved in the slave trade..Bahia Blanca Bali...great ports of magical possibilities
Ken e

[W. Barrett Munn]

"unknown certainty" is such an interesting phrase, brought to me images of death of a spouse, perhaps, the death the certainty, the afterlife the unknown.
"the departing keel sunk into the hard horizon' is a clause I wish I had written.

Well done, friend.
Winston

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks winston. glad you found the two lines I am most fond of as well. "the unknown" is a powerful hold on all of us, one which all too often we chose to dismiss by believing in the certainty of what we can't know..if that makes sense.
The departing keel line was originally in the seafarer, a part which I excised out. But this one particular image stuck with me and I am happy to have found a good home for the orphan.
Ken e