Sailboat Upon The Shore Poem by Jim Yerman

A sailboat stranded on the beach…we'd never seen her there before.
She was blown off of her moorings and came to rest upon this shore.

As I saw her stranded on the beach I admit to feeling chagrinned
thinking how a sailboat is truly at the mercy of the wind.

As people gathered round her…as people are won't to do
I smiled thinking about the life she's lived as she's sailed the ocean blue.

And I secretly wished she was happy that she had a thousand adventures before
the winds of fate decided to place her upon this shore…

And then I thought how we are all like sailboats trying to steer our courses straight
And how often our direction is influenced and sometimes determined
by the winds of fate.

And if we're lucky those winds of fate have taken us
when our sailing days are over and we, too, come to rest upon the shore
to places that we never knew and could only dream about before.

And when people gather round to say goodbye to us…
as people are wont to do
may they smile remembering how we smiled
as we sailed the ocean blue.