The Devil's Tide

I looked up at a silver moon Peering through a cloud of misty gloom As we sailed across the Atlantic Sea That fateful night in June And as I stood upon the bow A furrow crossed my troubled brow As a dying star fall from the sky As the wind out of the north Began to cry 'Twas then with fearful heart I came at last to realize That we were sailing On a wave of ill-tidings Known as 'The Devil's Tide' For no omen of the sea Brought more fear than thee A fallen star - a silver moon Together in the month of June If legend true would surely bring us doom So with no trace of land in sight We sailed onward through the night I - the Captain 'Louie Lou' With my faithful crew Aboard the 3 mast schooner 'Angel - of the Blue' On canvas wings we flew Upon the wailing wind that blew Then suddenly a hush of malaise Crushed the summer night Filling all the crew with dreadful fright As all the stars in heaven lost their light And the silver moon dipped completely out of sight Leaving us to drift without guidance To our unknown plight An eerie sound began to roll out of the west Growing louder and louder as we held our breath Until it was upon us and the ship began rise As we looked in horror into the Devil's eye As the Angel of the Blue began to fly Up the Devil's breast she climbed 20 fathoms high One by one the Angel's wings were torn away As she fought to save us from the Devil's rage Screams of horror falling from her timber sides As the crew fell into the Devil's tide And I - tethered to the helm - watched them die As we climbed even higher into the Devil's eye And as the Angel's body creaked and cracked We finally scaled the crest and rode upon the Devil's back Just before I fainted and my world went black I woke up in the morning high on a mountain side Never knowing just how I had survived knowing only that my Angel and my crew had died ~~~ Many years have come and gone since then And I am forever haunted by each and every one of them My faithful crew and my mighty 'Angel of the Blue' I see their faces in my dreams As I awaken to their screams Wishing, too - that I had died But someone had to live To tell the tale of the 'Devil's Tide'. ~~~~~~~~ Author: Elaine George Entry for contest: Legends Awarded: First Place