Another Still Braver Than Me
The grandfather sipped at his pitcher of ale,
Inviting the boy to the fire;
I’ll tell you a tale of the wind battered sail,
And my clash with a sea monster dire!
Out from the pier on a glistening sphere,
With meat and provisions below,
We’d happily veer with the wind blown austere,
As the breakers pitched skyward like snow.
Dolphins aside us and fishes in schools,
Swerving and racing for glee,
All of the crew but a gaggle of fools,
Carrying hope from the quay.
The wind became squally, the elements wild,
The ship at the edge of the world,
Lost in a storm so outrageously styled,
My men and the craft madly hurled.
The sun was chased into a prison of cloud,
The sea became gusty and white,
The men on the deck were not frightened or cowed—
Brave in the textures of night.
Then of a sudden a shadow below;
A spectre in darkness approached,
Tentacles flowing — a creature of woe,
Upon us the monster encroached.
Up on the gunwale a tentacle latched,
Pulling us downward in force,
Evil, tenacious, with malice unmatched,
Confounding our nautical course.
Then clung another, with octopus grip,
A tentacle planted in doom,
Men screaming loudly and starting to slip,
There in that chasm of gloom.
I was the captain — I leaped for my gun,
A blunderbuss stored in the craft,
Men set to madness, bereft of the sun,
In furor and mumbling daft.
But in my fever to better the beast,
Another still braver than me,
Grasping his sword — from its scabbard released,
Jumped from the ship to the sea.
Onto the head of the kraken, the squid,
Gabriel landed with rage,
Planting his sword, just as Hercules did,
Doling out death as a wage.
Just as the hydra was sent to demise,
Bettered by gusto and steel,
Gabriel, blazing, with feverish eyes,
Sundered the thing from the keel.
Nor did he perish that day in the wild,
Heaving him back we prevailed,
Safely on deck with the creature reviled,
Gabriel’s hardihood hailed.
Out through a storming and gnashing of waves,
Out through the perilous strait,
Out sailed my crew of adventurous knaves,
Heaven a vision of slate.
Grey topped dominions of watery fear,
Froth spangled seas in the gloam,
Sextants in guidance as shorelines draw near,
Deliverance back to our home.
Then with a tankard of ale in the hand,
Shouting our shanties in zest,
Glad of the boon of our lives and dry land,
Gabriel praised as the best!
I hope it impresses you, Winston, my boy,
Here in the cheer of the fire,
Men are vapour, a plaything, a toy,
But so very apt to inspire!
Papa! I love it! The sea calls my name!
Pray give me salt as a balm!
Adventuring must be my purpose and flame,
With anchors thrust out of my arm!
And, in the wind, whether glad or chagrined,
I’ll chase the unknown on the sea,
Into forever, the future undimmed,
Borne on a ship sailing free…
ADL
adamdaniel 