The Sailor’s Precious Frame
Adrift, on lonely jetsam borne,
The sullen shipwreck stripped forlorn,
Upon the mad Atlantic torn,
The elements in scorn.
Unconscious of his stricken ship,
The sailor’s hand released its grip,
Descending, in the deeps to slip,
In netherworlds to dip.
The breakers up above in force,
Enraged above his hapless course,
Pronouncing doom without remorse,
The North wind blowing hoarse.
Away upon the darksome tide,
In soporific sleep to glide,
The fleeting fishes at his side,
Upon the ocean wide.
Unto the swathing yellow sand,
A hidden desert stretching bland,
By lunar tides and currents fanned,
Unto a buried land.
A mermaid with tenebrous hair,
Embraced him with her loving care,
In sympathy with his despair,
And kept him unaware.
The undines of the blue in tow,
Attentiveness and grace to show,
Their blessings in a luscious glow,
Within the briny flow.
They spoke to him for many days,
Entreating him in hallowed ways,
To lift him from his groggy haze,
With otherworldly rays.
He woke unto the thronging cheer,
Delivered from his sleep austere,
The loveliness of faery clear,
The bliss of mermaids dear.
The undine looking from above,
In gratitude he fell in love,
Their spirits donning cupid’s glove,
Their mirth a treasure trove.
Knitted sweet and brimming joy,
With every gladness to employ,
The faery kingdom looking coy,
Such fervour to enjoy!
She took him to her hidden caves,
Below the incandescent waves,
In romance that the spirit saves,
The love that Cupid braves.
She held the sailor’s precious frame,
Enveloped by her loving flame,
With praises to his honest name,
A glad, devoted dame.
Inviting him to faery kin,
His spirit singing true within,
Delivered from the earthly din,
With now a happy fin.
And months ahead they duly wed,
With kelp and seaweed for a bed,
From netherworlds of tumult fled,
With soft devotions said.
The peacefulness of flowing tides,
Wherein their wedded bliss abides,
The coral glinting at their sides,
As sunlight softly glides…
🌊
