The Briny Balm

I went to the sea to heal my heart.
I found a balm
in the sighing waves,

the soothing salty air.

She's a fickle lover; It's often said
by sailors and seaman,
and other lost souls
whose songs become the wailing wind.

The mad man has the saddest laugh;
maniacal and strange,
with tears in his eyes,
pleading for lost love's return.

I'll climb the rigging and heave the line
perhaps in time
I'll forget why I came,
and only curse the northerly wind.

Three points off the starboard bow
I see her walking
on the waves.
My heart still has far to go.

I've come to laugh that burnt tragic laugh
of men who stay
too long at sea
and now I've forgotten why I came.

[i]The poem is an anachronism but it's true[/i]. ©