one night, floating on a sea
of rum and ale
the captain looks up at the bard
from where he’s laying with his head
in the bards’ lap, nimble fingers in his hair
says, “i love you”
words fail the poet now
and nothing escapes but
a sound between a sob
and a laugh
but the captain seems to understand
just the same
and for this the bard is thankful
presses a chaste kiss to the corner
of the captains’ mouth
and the next day
hungover and gripped by
panic over a loss not yet happened
the bard constructs a balcony
around the entire top half
of his two story cabin
watching from warm, salty waters
the siren laughs, insists it’s a widow's walk
and the bard doesn’t give her the satisfaction
of an answer, both knowing she’s right
there is a walk-way around the lighthouse
but it’s not enough
it’s just……
not enough
the siren watches this all
wishes briefly for legs
in order to go to the bard
hold him in her arms
the captain is not there
to see this
how the bard works with
tears in his eyes
a deep cut appearing
on the palm of his hand
and a slash through one eyebrow
the bard cries over the hammer
and nails, the wooden boards
and wrought iron
he cries for the captain
loving him too much
to try and cage a thing so wild
that only the ocean can soothe
he cries for the sadness
in the sirens’ eyes
bright red hair fanning out around
her in the deep green waves
and when the captain
sails back into view
the widow’s walk is complete
and the bard waits
leaning against the railing
he made with his own two hands
bandage on palm and face
and he cries again
but this time out of relief
-
Author:
Boaz Priestly (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: November 10th, 2020 21:47
- Category: Love
- Views: 40
- Users favorite of this poem: James Michael
Offline)
Comments3
Woah sublime and abstract! Fine seafaring terms in this interesting poem. Kudos
Plz pleez do read and comment my newest poem, but if it's so difficult then just skip commenting.
Thank you! Iām quite fond of this one. Though, truth be told, I know very little about actual seafaring, and latched onto the romanticism and homoeroticism of piracy.
Iāll absolutely read your work! I need to get better about doing that.
'watching from warm, salty waters
the siren laughs, insists itās a widow's walk
and the bard doesnāt give her the satisfaction
of an answer, both knowing sheās right'
'and the bard waits
leaning against the railing
he made with his own two hands
bandage on palm and face
and he cries again
but this time out of relief'
another wonderful write, I think I have mentioned this before but your style lends itself to short story or novella length immersive writing, those page-turner's without the needy crutch of dramatics
Thank you for the kind words, and continuing to read my work! Iāve been writing short stories longer than poetry, but am pleased that theyāve seemed to blend together š
The captain will always belong to the sea. The lament over this will always haunt the bard. The fact the captain has shown the bard his love is exquisite in this story.
You are a gifted story teller. It would be interesting to read something more elaborate. Is there any need for that actually?
I have thought about turning the poems about the sea captain and the bard into a short story, but I donāt think it would hold the same weight. Iām also really bad about finishing short stories. I do, however, have plans to eventually publish the two poetry collections I wrote about my pirate friend during the time I was in love with him.
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