Dark Harbour (A) Poem by jim hogg

The lights are shining down upon
broken stones and fishing boats
In the amber haze reflections reach
for the night that's crowding close
And on the hill the old hotel
is watching over all
And I think I hear a voice I know
From somewhere down among the waves
that kiss this harbour wall

The revellers all come and go
at the Crown and Harbour House
There's a solitary violin
in the distance drifting down
And from the south a quarter moon
is watching over all
And I think I see a face I know
Beneath me in the rippling
images that rise and fall

(chorus)
And I'm thinking of so many things
of all the roads that led me on
and all the words I've wasted on
dreams that take us nowhere
when all that ever mattered
was waiting for me here

The outside world in silence waits
beyond the edge of night
for the pilgrims on the glory road
that the most of us walk blind
And in the air the promises
that kept us driving on
And I think I hear a song I know
In the old dance hall I held you close;
by morning I was gone

Now it's Hogmanay and bitter cold,
but nobody seems to care
In the amber night below the lights
there is music everywhere
And from this harbour deep and dark
it's time to turn for home
And I think I hear the bells ring out
From somewhere o'er the Auld Lang Synes
that echo round the shore

(chorus)
I've been thinking of so many things
of all the roads that led me on
and all the years I've wasted on
schemes that take us nowhere
when all that ever mattered
I left behind me here

31 10 11