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voyagers

Voyagers 

The old ship
rust stripped like a Sudanese mule
doomed to carry fleeing people across
a landscape of despair
Why, she floats is a lasting mystery
From one obscure port to another
she finds her way
The captain and the chief are never sober
plays ten-cent poker
The captain signs the manifesto but takes
no interest, what's in the ship's hold
other than massive rats 
when did the pair come onboard, was it
when they were young and wore uniforms
and had shiny black shoes inspected 
the crew's fingernail on Saturdays?
Morning in La Plata
tomorrow I will go ashore in Buenos Aires
eat fresh meat and dance the tango.  



Copyright © Jan Hansen

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Book: Shattered Sighs