Notes About The Poem
"The Captain did not rescue me from the sea
He remade the sea around me."
- Poet
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The Captain and the Chrysolite
Verse 1
Pink lavender honeyed skies swallowed the day
then we fly through a banyan tree
to admire an air plant without soil on display
a turquoise cocoon burst forth at noon
seeking out the nectar of an incoming flower
unreckoned and true
Chorus
O Captain, pay the ransom, for I am lost
thrown into the sea without bottom or shore
constantly treading the vilest of waters
ankle-deep, knee-deep, waist-deep, neck-deep Lord
guided by galaxies, formed by your mountains
lavished in radiance I cannot afford
O Captain, pay the ransom, for I am forlorn
Verse 2
through arabah wasteland to engedi's shoreline
where eneglaim waits at the edge of the deep
the slaves by birth rising in filthy rags wading
into waters too wide and too holy to keep
leaves will not wither and fruit will still flourish
and herbs will heal everything exiled in me
jasper and sapphire and pearl at the threshold
where the dead brine drinks till its currents run free
Chorus
O Captain, pay the ransom, for I am lost
thrown into the sea without bottom or shore
constantly treading the vilest of waters
ankle-deep, knee-deep, waist-deep, neck-deep Lord
guided by galaxies, formed by your mountains
lavished in radiance I cannot afford
O Captain, pay the ransom, for I am forlorn
Verse 3
no longer roaming the vilest of waters
the ransom was paid at the turn of the tide
carnelian burning like embers inside me
chrysolite green where the filthy rags died
beryl and topaz and chrysoprase dawning
amethyst jacinth and ruby my name
emerald and onyx where filthy rags clothed me
I flew through the banyan tree never the same
Chorus
O Captain, You paid the ransom when I was lost
thrown into the sea without bottom or shore
no longer treading the vilest of waters
ankle-deep, knee-deep, waist-deep no more Lord
guided by galaxies formed by Your mountains
lavished in radiance I could not afford
O Captain, You paid the ransom when I was forlorn
Outro
leaves will not wither
fruit will flourish
herbs will heal
unreckoned, uncontained,
mysteriously free.
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