Voyage

Captain, helmsman,
guide your silent barque
along the land-line, next a boundless sea.
Your eyes are fixed upon your nearest goal,
from port to safest port,
along a course
long fixed in fear of chaos in the deep.

“I have no guide!
Clouds have hid the night!”
Yet, longing, you would see your compass blaze;
star fires to point your channel through the waves,
whither life awaits you,
calling homeward;
vague memory of harbours, far away.

Stars’ harmonies;
cloud dissolves in song.
Above you, Captain, see a sky-born hand
show your way across far, shining water,
summoning wind’s fury.
Spin hard the wheel
to take your destined route into the void.

Across ocean,
full sails, masts straining,
useless helm, forced on in Mercy’s stormsurge,
unabating, as black Night commanded.
Stand proud upon your search,
seek vast distance
and unknown harbour, promising full rest.

Captain, helmsman,
roar your ecstasy
with foaming waters crashing on your bow;
passion-torn, your sails still bear you onward,
through night and ocean’s seam
to wider sea,
and onward to your home, in star-flamed love.

© Simon J Ashcroft, 2023

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