The Helmsman

“Over there,” yelled the Helmsman “On the Starboard side.” Though when I looked from left to right Nothing caught my eye “Over there,” he yelled again “On the starboard side.” And again as I looked from left to right Nothing caught my eye But I knew when I saw her For she was not water nor was she beast That she had come upon us To rest us all in peace Her fingers rattled the rigging As all hands fought to stow the cloth The helmsman lashed himself to the wheel We faced the worst of her wrath Then she brought the main-mast down The crow’s nest crashed upon the deck Fear eclipsed all conscious thought For we floated upon a wreck Our lives so fully in the hands Of nature’s primeval fury We prayed to our mystical gods For their heavenly mercy Lo she ignored our desperate pleas As she drove us beneath the waves Relaxed and confident she left us To our watery graves Then the helmsman free from his shackles Pulled us with all his might Dragged us by our sodden collars Toward the watery moonlight The helmsman of defiant strength Pulled us with all his might Through our aquatic graves To freedom’s shining moonlight