Will you ever forget the mid-watches at sea?
How you tumbled out sleepy and dazed,
And though you maneuvered as still as could be,
Remember the chorus you raised
As you bumped into hammocks, or stepped on a mate
Who was caulking it off on the deck?
Then you hustled up forward for fear you’d be late,
Your pea-coat pulled snug ’round your neck,
And you climbed the old bridge and looked into the night,
And the wind and the spray stung your face;
While the stars overhead were all dancing and bright,
And the ship plunged away into space;
Can you ever forget the long tricks at the wheel;
All your thoughts and your plans and your fears?
The things you’d imagine – the dangers you’d feel,
As the creaks and the groans of the gears
Would make you snap out of some dream of the shore?
Or a comber would loom like a ship
Dead ahead, or you’d start at the crash and the roar,
As a beam-sea would hit her on a clip?
And didn’t those hours seem lonelier, too,
When the moon and stars went to bed,
And it seemed like sometimes there was no one but you
Sailing into that black hole ahead?
(Burt Franklin Jenness)
More Poetry from Burt Franklin Jenness:
Burt Franklin Jenness Poems based on Topics: Night, Faces, Dreams, Space, Fear, Danger & Risk- The Black Watch (Burt Franklin Jenness Poems)
- The Flare-Back (Burt Franklin Jenness Poems)
- The Lure Of The East (Burt Franklin Jenness Poems)
- The Bedford Nell (Burt Franklin Jenness Poems)
- Signal Bill (Burt Franklin Jenness Poems)
- Bumboats (Burt Franklin Jenness Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Night Poems, Faces Poems, Dreams Poems, Fear Poems, Space Poems, Danger & Risk PoemsBased on Keywords: hustled, creaks, gears, lonelier, hammocks, comber, caulking, beam-sea, maneuvered