We swam out and said come on in.
and so they did but where are we?
Still swimming, still dreaming, still?
The trouble I believe is ours not theirs
and now we must admit we do not know -
what shall we do? What happens next?
Let us follow on awhile and see.
Once,
I had a thought.
It was small
It was vulnerable
And it was very brave.
Like a tiny fish
Without a shoal
Lost and circling,
And puffing-up
Two times -
maybe four.
Couraged gainst
The sharpened teeth
By some pretence
This little fish,
This little thought
Swam on.
Stilled am I in lull of night
No ocean’s move save salted spite
And where go I in loose-rigged winds?
No bounding heave, no push and cleave,
No rising line or white-mane minds.
All quietened like the muted damned,
Horizon-fixed with tar glued stares
Through eyes that blaspheme stars,
And with curses for a speechless sea
And the stolen shore yet far way.
I lie silent, waiting and becalmed.
Just these thoughts for company.
Oh take me home to those,
that wait for me.