P.R. Seitz Bookseller: Poems

Near Death on a Ship

The ship tossed and bucked on a foaming sea,
Turning and churning most violently.

Two sailors rose up through the decks to gape
As the bow pushed f’wrd and broke the waveshape.

At the top of the ship, the flying bridge,
The movements, amplified, stripped their courage.

An open area they had to cross
A wide stretch ‘tween the stack and the house.

Here the winds blew as if in a tunnel;
The deck tossed about ceaselessly mobile.

A dangerous place with no where to hold;
Legs had to be nimble, surefooted, bold.

Holding the ladder, the first sailor stood
Gauging his time as the sway said he should.

When the ship reached the apex of swell,
The slight pause at the top spoke to him well.

He shuffled across to safety he met,
Not looking back at the lot of his mate.

The second sailor got to the fore
Urged by the passage a moment before

He did not wait for the pause at the top,
He rushed too late, the ship started to drop.

The wind sought his legs and blew very hard
Knocked them clear from beneath, he fell backward.

The ship increased the angle of ride,
The sailor helplessly slid to the side.

Senses were filled with the seas roar and comb
There was nothing ahead but blue, green foam.

Time did not move in a moment of dread
His future all gone, he saw himself dead.

He lifted his arms and caught the side rail
Arms wrapped tightly his strength did not fail.

Legs dangled o’er side as the ship’s list
Slowed then pause. Looking deep in the abyss,

He saw without blur, nature, no feeling,
Remorseless, had he not caught the railing

The ship tugged him back as it rolled again
The sailor got up and joined his friend then.

His friend saw nothing eyes narrow in sight
Watching the waves on the foredeck turn white.

“I have nearly been killed!” “What?!” his friend said.
“You are here now, get over it then, and

Watch the beautiful power of the ocean.”

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