the shore

walk out on the sandy flats
stretched to meet the sea
we can cause with sprites
i have hot rum to bring you smiles
then we'll part the fog
like a hungry reef
make waves in the salty air
someone's left round pebbles
tossed across these beaches
shall we gather some odd jewel
and fill our pocket

i sing ancient sailor songs
in tune with the night's raw horn
and call the fish to shore
to feed these rowdy birds
for they leave me bothered
and in a rare unwholesome mind
here where the lands all end

do you sway with these curious tides?
or do you start a dance
to bring some heat to the bitter clime
old and holy lads come here to chant
but i don't see the marvel
of the tales they weave
do they get caught in the fisher nets
and cast out to the deep?

this place bears my questions well
though you think it's mute
it speaks rounds and rimes
it fills my head with untoward joy
i could startle you with a young boy's leap
watch me shed the all too cautious years
and grow into a man come late to life
here where the heavens bear so light
upon the quiet of my soul