Stephen Tefft Poet Rhyme

The Ocean's Call

I’ve heard the ocean calling me far back as I recall.
A gentle tug upon my soul, relenting not at all.
The romance and the mystery, the stories I would hear…
The beauty and the monstrous things that sailors love and fear.

Now, I was born upon the plains with nothing ‘round to see.
How I would dread the thought that I would ne’er a sailor be.
As soon as I was old enough, I vowed that I would roam
Until the day a ship out on the ocean was my home…

So, year on year, I read and learned the skills that I would need.
And those who knew and loved me thought I was insane indeed
To memorize the many charts of currents and of waves,
As well as all the tales of what the sailor daily braves.

One morning, then, I woke and told my mother I’d be off,
And all through breakfast listened to my siblings laugh and scoff.
I packed my bag with what I’d need and headed out the door
To search, myself, for wind and waves: what life might have in store.

I’d many years of wandering… the stories I could tell
Of getting lost, of being found, like any ne’er-do-well.
Upon my path, so many ups and downs, and twists and turns
But always heading toward the dream for which my heart still yearns.

At last, to my surprise I stood alone upon the shore.
Exactly as I thought that it would be and so much more!
To feel the ocean’s water on my sore and tired feet
Still knowing, yet, the journey of my life is incomplete.

I found a ship and joined the crew, my dream was coming true!
I worked my way up through the ranks, what I was born to do!
And now as captain of my ship I look back on my life
And kind of miss what I gave up, the children and the wife…

There’s naught to be ashamed of in the choices I have made.
And no regrets that I have gained all that for which I prayed.
If I have learned one lesson, it’s that you can’t have it all.
And I am oh so grateful that I heard the ocean’s call.

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