Departing her garlanded shores

Of the sea’s iridescent treasures,

The solace of the rising sun

Keeps the promise of another day:

Casting away the sodden rope

That bound her to calmer tide

This dress of scarlet scales

A glimmering midnight jewel

Moves like the oyster’s pearl

Swerving

But does not fight the currents of change

-

Majestically, she paces

Guided by the night’s astral path

Followed by the tears of men, once boys

Salt-and-pepper hair, hands of grease and blood

Wrinkled and scarred deep

Like soldiers of fortune, they watch

In stillness and reflection

The sea’s bounty hath found her calling

-

Many remember her tender, naked frame

A mesh and tangle of steel and solder

From Genesis to Dharma, she awakens

With her eye, strong and true, she sees

Carrying the burden of time and water

To breathe strength into the weak

And compassion into the strong

Now a cast of burnt and twisted flesh,

A home for troubled souls and weathered heroes

Of those who carried weight and blindness

Aimlessly

Drifting back to shore

-

While in stillness and reflection,

Men read the map of their hands for direction

Boys search through the stars for answers

Women dream of their graceful ageing

Miss Eleanor Florence

‘Queen and Matron of the Seas’

Knows no dying day or defeat

For without a sling or arrow she conquers:

Her grandeur is n’er lost by age.