We found the boat above the shore
buried in the weeds;
we
found the boat above the sea
covered in debris.
A
giant wave had lifted it
high up into the trees;
the
boat had floated down the line
and rested in the weeds.
Eons
of time had come and gone
and men had done their deeds;
while
through all time the boat had sat,
filled with nature’s seeds.
No
path to walk to find the boat
hidden in the weeds;
pure
chance, perhaps, caused us to slip
among the slender reeds.
We
placed our hands upon its bow
and dragged it from the weeds;
we
tore our clothes to make its sail
far from the thick debris.
We
sewed our clothes to make it sail
upon a glassy sea;
we
watched the boat sail from the shore
toward the open sea,
toward the open sea.
On
Saturday, Eileen Knowles over at The Scenic Route had a post entitled “Romancing the
Heart of Stone.” This line caught my attention: “Beauty awakens by romance.”
The
post included a video by Rend Collective, a group that have been around for a
fe years, but this my first experience with their music. I loved the song, and
Eileen’s post plus the song gave birth to the poem above – old-fashioned, to be
sure, and rather reeking of the 19th century. But it was great fun
to write.
The
poem is dedicated to Eileen.
Photograph by Petr Kratochvil via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission
