A Poem About Loss

Before The Wind

Upon a rock I sit close to shore
Staring out to sea forevermore
For I once loved a captain of a ship
My heart he held within his grip


Many years ago was this tale of the sea
Bringing up so many emotions dormant in me
We were like two ships that pass in the night
A fleeting moment that burned so bright


So handsome was he by the cut of his jib
With a clever sense of humor he'd completely ad lib
And now I find myself all at sea
With this sad remembrance of what wasn't to be


We may have been rocking the boat in our quest for love
A mermaid and a captain are not what most would think of
Perhaps they'll come around to see that love is there
Between two whose hearts are entwined in all they share


I first saw him off of England's Cornish coast
As I surreptitiously swam around his boat
A fine clipper ship over two hundred feet in length
I would watch him from afar, admiring his strength


The year was 1891
A cargo of spices his ship would run
I watched its comings and goings from Falmouth port
The merchant trade in those days a prosperous sort


One day as they were headed back out to sea
I saw him peering at what I thought was me
His spyglass pointed in my direction
Perhaps it was just a mistaken reflection


Months would pass before his return
Until one day I spotted "Lorelei" on the stern
Ironically named for the siren whose voice would sink ships
A fate he and his crew would certainly eclipse


The clipper's great sails cast a shadow over the starboard side
So there among the lapping waves I would hide
As I watched him walking briskly along the decks
The command of his stance kept the crew in check


Suddenly he turned and looked directly at me
I was close enough that he didn't need a spyglass to see
When our eyes met and locked it was as if I knew him
Call it intuition, just a hunch, or maybe a whim
Something stirred inside of me
As I drifted so calmly in the gray-blue sea


One day as I sat upon a sunlit rock
I heard the sound of horses' hooves going clippety-clop
Diving swiftly below into the safety of the sea
I furtively broke surface to see the captain staring at me


"Lass, I know you are from the sea
Nevertheless I would like you to accompany me
Through the woodlands on horseback I will take you
We'll cross over the moors in the early morning dew


"I will show you hundreds of flowers in the lea
And you can tell me of your life in the sea
Together we will share what is in our hearts
A strong bond we'll build for the times we are apart"


He would sit on the hillside resting on one arm
Twirling a blade of grass between his lips, only adding to his charm
Something drew together these two souls of the sea
Slowly unfolding into what was forever to be


A bond so strong it endured even death
For the sea enveloped Lorelei into its breadth
A storm raging through my heart and my soul
Drowning, sinking, into depths far below


I will sound out the feelings I have long submerged
The past and the present I must now converge
As I cast off this dark shadow of grief
From where I sit upon this reef


For something still flickers like a moonlit night at sea
A whisper on the breeze heard only by me
A sail before the wind, a force I cannot see
A knowing in my heart forever there is he

- Aerwyna