Old Sailor

OLD SAILOR The old sailor sat on a sea wall Watching heaving swell of dancing waves Crowned with foam of swirling white Hearing shrill cries of seagulls. Feeling salty spray on weathered face Closes his eyes remembering Times long gone of his seafaring youth Spent beneath mast and billowing sail. Friends lost overboard in raging storms And climbing slippery rigging Pulling in sails, lashing them to yardarms As monstrous waves broke over the ship. Shore leave with girl in every port Getting drunk and spending all his pay Returning to the ship and hard life on board Sailor with unruly sea as his home. Colin Ian Jeffery