he swore they spoke to him
you'd often see him there
down at the waters edge
listening to the pebbles rattle
as the waves played with them
word had it, if we were to believe
that he was one of three survivors
of the paddle steamer 'greyhound'
that the rocks by salters point
ripped the bottom out of in '87
he could hear his old mates voices
arguing over a card game he said
one day as i threw sticks for the dog
thats where he'd sit, right there
course, not now, not since saturday
drunken kids,or maybe they were high
borrowed a launch from the cove
and fell foul of the rocks at salters
ripping the keel from under them
just like the old 'greyhound'
they said he must have seen it all
and heard the kids screaming cries
for he went in after them raincoat and all
they pulled him out, drowned of course
he'd rescued the kids and gone back in
rekkoned he could hear his old mates out there calling for help.
-
Author:
dusk arising (
Offline) - Published: March 19th, 2020 05:37
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 31
- User favorite of this poem: queer-with-a-pen.
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Comments6
HI DA ~ Brian here. Thanks for sharing an epic Poem replete with History & Mystery ! It has two of our criteria Rhythm & Reason ! It is excellent to recite and (if thats OK) I will use it at one of our Poetry Recitals. I like the fact that ~ rescuing the Kids ~ broughit it starkly into present time.
It was just our luck today today for our Poem to be sandwhiched between the two best lyrical Poets on MPS ~ Yourself & FAY ~ C'est la Vie ! Had I been aware of the juxtaposition ~ I would not have posted a Boring - Unemotional - Factual - lament on Education but a mystical & lyrical Poem on A Castle instead ! Thanks again for sharing an excellent & enjoyable ODE ! Loved the visual & video too !
Peace & Joy to You & Yours
Yours Brian & Angela 🧡🤍💙
The sea has many secrets that become profound journeys for people. Wonderful write d a.
Andy
Just a little ditty which seemed to write itself after the first line. Thanks G pleased you liked it.
Mystical Columbian music so apt to illustrate the wreck of Greyhound and the haunting memories of one survivor - - - you tell it so well dusk - -- a lament indeed.
Those rattling pebbles as a wave withdraws back into the ocean gave me the inspiration to play with. Maybe there are many more secrets they can disclose.
A real gem of a read - must look at it again later. great work Dusk.
Pleased you liked this one.
Couldn’t get the video to play on my phone. Will have to try again later on laptop. The imagery in this poem is fantastic. A haunted past and a beckoning ocean are two very powerful things, indeed. If this poem were a full-length novel, I’d buy a signed copy!
hauntingly beautiful and retaining a ragged, harsh realness only history can lend ... all wrapped and sealed in much more than a half decent poem sir ...
Neville
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