There was a woman

There was a woman

She did wait for me

Standing in a crowd

Of people watching the world

Unfold

On a fine day

As a big ship sailed by

Beating through an oily swell.

The foam-flecked spray flung high

The wake frothed into a frenzy.

Ragged people cheer and wave

Hopeful children run

Along the clifftops

Hand in hand

Dancing silhouettes

Halcyon vignettes

Innocent days.

Sunday school frolics

Lovers enthused to daydream

Wishing to be whisked away

Finding a new life

Far off across the sea.

As the drums of a marching band

Play

On the village green

The penny whistles squeal

Infants look bemused

Whilst pubescent boys

Ponder their futures

Landlocked in an old town

Beaten down.

She stood her ground

Skin flushed with the wind

Coming from the ocean

Sand whipped up

High above the cliffs

The grit of it

Stinging the tenderness of her face.

She never stopped looking

I hope she did see me

The way that I saw her

If ever a sight was needed

It was her smile

As at last we met.

Her hand in mine

Strong and firm

We together stood

Joined in mind and blood

To watch a ship sail by

To watch a ship sail by.