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Fair Wings and Following Seas

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* This is taken from a Haiku that I wrote a couple of years ago, ("Little Wet Wings"), and an idea I've been wanting to expand for a while now - I hope you like it! *

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Far, far out at sea one day
          A Hummingbird so found its way
               To roost upon my pulpit rail
     And thus decided it would stay

Never through my years at sail
          Had I seen a hummer male
               So many miles off the coast
     Now bound with me into a gale

All day long he kept his post
          Thus, to be a decent host
               I prepared some nectar, warm
     (Tho' he liked my tea the most)

I worried he might come to harm
          As we had sailed into a storm
               But soon he found his way below
     And hid until the winds were calm

When the squall had ceased to blow
          And sun had set with afterglow
               Up he came to perch and see
     The phosphorescent undertow

All those weeks far out at sea
          No better friends had we, than we
               A steady thrum of wings, I heard
     As always, he stayed close to me

Then, nearing harbor it occurred
          I hadn't seen my Hummingbird ...
               So odd, the ache that raked my soul
     Eyes stinging as my vision blurred

'Twas many years, that, now I'm old
          How often I've that story, told ...
               Yet more, the times I've looked to sky
     For hummer wings, so bright and bold

And should I spot that bird a-high
          I pray he'll linger, bye-and-bye
               For I've not known a better friend
     Nor greater need to blot my eye ...

Our souls were kin ... wee bird and I.





~ 1st Place ~  in the "Devotion To Ocean" Poetry Contest, Chantelle Anne Cooke, Judge & Sponsor.

(This is a form of Rubaiyat I've been playing with that I call "Echoing Rubaiyat", and it carries the rhyme of line three to the next stanza - AABA, BBCB, CCDC, DDED, etc.).

Copyright © | Year Posted 2019




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Date: 9/9/2019 10:00:00 AM
What a lovely story - shades of the Ancient Mariner, but with a happier ending for the bird, a guardian angel methinks. Enjoyed the words and the rhyming.
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Date: 9/8/2019 2:58:00 PM
Beautiful storytelling G, and I like the form and the rhyme, I see congrats are in order for another win!
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Date: 8/17/2019 8:38:00 PM
A wondrous write, dear Greg! Congratulations!
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Date: 8/16/2019 3:33:00 AM
- This really is a wonderful story, Gregory :) - Congratulations on your well deserved 1st place in the contest - hugs // Anne-Lise :)
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Date: 8/15/2019 11:33:00 PM
A cute tale and one I hope is true...congrats on your win.
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Date: 8/15/2019 9:46:00 PM
Congratulation on your wonderful win! Hugs
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Date: 8/15/2019 3:50:00 PM
I knew this would be a top winner Greg, and I am so happy to see this fave of mine in First Place! Congratulations on your deserving top win! : ) xxoo
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Date: 8/11/2019 11:55:00 AM
Absolutely precious and beautifully written. You are really good - you know that, don't you, Greg.
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Date: 8/10/2019 8:14:00 PM
Hello Gregory … very touching indeed. I would have loved to have observed humming birds but alas we don't have them. We have honeyeaters here that can be amusing amongst the fuchsia's and quite bold - thank you for your enjoyable verse Gregory - Lindsay
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Date: 8/10/2019 3:01:00 AM
This is magnificent Greg! You write with such compassion and emotion that gladdends the heart. This is sure to be a top winner. I am putting this heartwarming jewel into my faves! It blows my little entry out of the water, but I won't mind losing to such excellence! : )
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