The wind
is an agent of change
so I face it
head on
and welcome its
cold embrace
its cleansing properties
its whirling breath
that chafes my skin
and chills my core
and I ask it to change me
and it always obliges.
Chase the breakers out of the harbour
before the customs boat appears.
Strike the sails and tack to larboard
then comes the old familiar fear.
Will they run us, or will they gun us?
Damn these sails, catch the wind.
Spume and foam roll and spin us,
forgive us Lord for we have sinned.
Packed to the gunwales with contraband
trying to make a dishonest living.
Running close twixt rocks and strand,
not only the sea is unforgiving.
Soon we'll be in open water,
run the mizzen, strike the main.
Then, God willing, well outrun her
and run a windward spray again.
Gazing Windward
on a summer’s evening
Loch David Crane
1981
Whose waves these are, I think I know:
his home is in the sea below.
He will not see me stopping here
to watch the whitecaps come and go.
Enlisted sailors think me weird
-- civilian with no duty near—
they stop to wonder, one or two,
if they can help me out of here.
Up from the depths comes royal blue,
which lightens into turquoise too;
the aerating bubbles rise
dissolved to see the cycle through.
Dark and deep beneath the skies
the pulses in the ocean rise.
So lonely, not a seagull cries;
so lonely. Not a seagull cries.
When the clouds
Become untied and divided
Sometimes, colliding together
Tumbling upside down or,
They are knocking each other around....
I know that's you up there
Guiding me, humbly along
So I am reminded again
To be strong and push aside
My longing and fear
I can hear you mumbling
" Hey brush aside them tears mummy "
So I stop the tears from
Being flooding tides I've hidden
And instead of crying
.........I send you........
Sweet whispers , hugs , and kisses
Up to the windward side
Where the babies all sing
Locked in my heart
Is the song I always sang
It eases the longing for you
Because I know, soon we'll be
Humming together
As one, you and me!
I hear thou whisper through the trees
and thy breath upon my cheek
is flowing warmth, sweet gentle breeze
as in thy course thou search and seek.
Thy forces grow within thy dance
and raise the volume of thy song.
If not for earthly circumstance
I'd grasp thy tail and dance along.
Thy tempest is my hearts own beat
thy beauty swirls before mine eyes!
Pray, loose these wretched earthbound feet
set sail with me amongst the skies!
For in thy arms I would'st be free
to sail upon thy airy sea.
Inspired by Christie Moses'
Many Voices of the Wind contest
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