The Pelican of the Endure

The Pelican of the Endure I sat down to rest on the longest day on a shallow shore Pressed, the wind my face I counted the waves that lapped the minutes away Till the grinding tide consumed the day, shadow ate the sun Woe unto the shadow fair A crimson horizon hangs on the edge of sight As bright bits of an imaginative dream Cascade behind a veil of still purple madness. Lost now, am I in dream From out that still shroud breaks a ship called the Endure Upon the deck, grey old pelican sleeps As the captains wheel spins, unmanned and unwon Yet that bird is but the best of me In the yellow beneath its bill holds the morrow morn In his gullet holds the fish of life Feeding deep on the sea he sleeps Say old Endure your bow does rise Your bell to chime as the midnight fades Taste the wave that in your travel bathe But disturb not your sail or your sleeping son For the best of birds still needs his rest Now on the deck in sheltered dream For time decides the day to fly A ship of empty boards when he does leave