Sea of Tears
The boat of life was just a boat
it held nothing except two oars
no sustenance or friendship;
no link to friendly shores
For years he drifted insecure
on a salty sea of tears
with deadly calm always at hand
to succour dreadful fears.
Fierce storms raged wild and often;
his life shuddered in their wake
but the tiny boat kept floating
defying the devil's prescribed fate.
The lights from lonely houses
beamed from the rocky shore
inviting him to come on home
but storms would blow once more
The beckoning shore eluded
his searching outstretched grasp;
his screams were as mere whispers
when he heard the foghorn's blast
In the fog that wrapped its tendrils,
around his mind with bands of steel
he saw the ghostly images of those
whose wounds would never heal
He cried their names out loudly
and screamed for them to turn
but their silent course was set
and his pleas were no concern
His silent tears fell in sliver streams
as he stowed the small boat's oars
He looked inside his broken heart
with its broken unhinged doors
He tore at fatigue and sorrow
With a mind shredded to the core
and realised it was for nothing;
he could do no more.
With resignation he knew that
he must say a last goodbye
to mates who'd died too soon
but whose souls were free to fly.
The dark storm clouds abated
the sea became like glass
the sounds of sea birds singing
heralded out the awful past
He knew that while he lived
the past would live with him
but he knew if he kept fighting
the past would surely win
He gazed up into bright blue sky
and saw old friends reflected there
On the softly whispering breeze he heard
"Cooee old mate… take care."
He'd trolled the sea of life to find
rhyme and reason for his life.
But only when he drifted free
could he accept that state of strife
©Copyright June 21, 2005 by Anthony W. Pahl
Awarded 24 June 2005
Webmaster: Thurman P. Woodfork
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