Sailor's Dread ('Sailor's Tale' Version 2)

Version 2 of 'Sailor's Dread'

Many times I have set sail

upon an open sea

Smelled the acrid scent of saltwater

and felt the high winds

against my chapped cheeks

For years I have known

- not just known, but loved -

a life upon the waves

No land in sight as far

As the eye can see

be it naked or

pressed against the lens of a spyglass

I have set foot in

many a strange land before

Heard many a gibbered tongue

and witnessed my share of odd customs

Yet it is only today that my resolve wavers

and my knees buckle

Today, as we approached a port

foreign even to me

Icy fear gripped my heart as I saw it

looming there, dark as night

that Shadow Over Innsmouth