Isabel Szurlej

Isabel Szurlej Poems

The Best Poem Of Isabel Szurlej

Helmsman William Lee (From Pirates Songs)

Once upon a time sailing ship
Was beached on ghostly island.
Helmsman William Lee was the one
Who didn't die in the wreck
But he didn't live either.
He stuck for years among the worlds
Doomed to sail through an endless storm.
Perpetuity haunted him remained his body
Intact though his soul became a skeleton.
No one remembers now how
He ended up on our brig.
Lee said he was a trained seaman
Yet none of us have heard of him.
His steering skills were supreme as
He was leaning only on the sun and
The horizon line (With sailing charts) .
He sailed from east to west with his
Eyes closed never using ded reckoning,
However sailing from north to south was
Always hard, even for this remarkable sailor
Because water is constantly moving in the
Opposite direction and there are no land-marks.

Only immortals know no fears on angry seas.
In the coming tempest winds rip sails
To shreds and you are sailing into
The enormous surge where here, in between
The devil and the sea there is only death.
Finally it is her fee.
You can beg for the mercy but
Be aware the ocean is not merciful.
William Lee knew when a storm was
Coming and how long it will last.
At the time he set the ship closest
To the oncoming waves while as we
Wrapped ropes around our waists.
Tons of waters were falling on the prow
But the steersman kept us alive.
It was terrifying and intriguing at the
Same time how he dealt with storms.
Each of us individually felt that there
Was something that indicated his
Transcendence but no one said it aloud.

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