Manning the Boat
Manning the boat
A captain sails straight into a storm
Because there is no avoiding it
And the rain hits it
And the ice hits it
And the wind is a devil
And the cold is inside the bones of the crew
Every man on the boat feels the
Chill but cannot pay it any mind
Oh, my God it is cold.
Not just the weather.
But the by God damned world is cold
And unforgiving.
And your eyelids are freezing
And cannot close.
And the captain’s first mate
Is shivering.
But the captain is not yet
Shivering.
Some of the sailors are praying
That the storm ends.
But the captain is not yet
Praying.
Men are crying on the boat
But not the captain.
The captain stays calm.
Else he is like the storm.
He looks into his mind
Where he has learned everything
He clears his throat to speak
He clenches his grip to hold tightly
And breathes deeply
To be alive.
The captain removes his hat
To let the cold remind him
That he is not yet dead.
The small ship is not carrying passengers
Or cargo for traders
Or weapons for war
But it is carrying the captain.
Though in a storm
The captain would die
If not for the ship.
And with that sad
Living, and breathing
Truth lodged in the captain’s brain
With words not to prove
The captain sails straight
Into a storm.
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