As soon as the ship had left the harbour, A bird stopped in the sky and blurring clouds And said a prayer to the sea Applauded by sunlight; flashing, blinding.
Couples drank in the small bars In the colossal house, still soaking, Girls gazing dreamily At the far and wide sea.
Oh! the glimmering fish that swam so deep And hid underneath rocks that did not move. Cabin beds were unmade And the sea howled its song, Low pitched as a moan.
A door banged closed; in lower cabins The girl waved her arms, Understood by the sea, And nature on land everywhere, No chains, no bounds; everywhere, freedom.
Blood flowed in the water, A salted abattoir, in the sea Where windows gazed deep and dark Blood and life merged. Currents flowed.
Mrs Smythe played jazz piano in the bar, Whispered flirtations spread Like the ship moving across the sea. Romances set out. Palaces were built In the chaos of storms of the oceanic night.
Every star wrapped up Across the ocean wide Shielding themselves from the bright And the young--- glittering trance Of burgeoning beautiful love stories.
Every morning afterβitβs winter, they spoke--- Foam rolling along the decks Lightning like cymbals, drumming thunder Rise and fall, rise and fall Oh! precious creatures of nautical nights! Yet secrets hum through warmed hands Sharing enlightenment they will know forever But which eludes us now.