It is a tired old vessel

It is a tired old vessel

Limping

Ever so slightly

Listing

Struggling to make progress

Against a heavy swell

The timbers have become

Un-caulked

Joints swollen

In retention

Guilding burnished

To a pale yellow

A jaundiced hue

With a semblance of old grandeur

In the silhouette

Against the horizon

There is mystery

In the history

Of its survival

Time out of mind

Breaking waves

Old and new

With every dip

Of its prow

Plunging it deeper

Down into a mire

Of unforgiving servitude

Shuddering

With the effort

Of the rise

Shaking off

Raking fingers

Of hungry water

An ancient sea horse

With a ragged flowing mane

Tossing its head

Railing against the passing

Of old ways

Trudging its path

A well furrowed course

Tacking against the wind

An arduous undertaking

Unwavering in its intention

To give safe passage

Reach final landfall

And to bring

Its cargo home.