Seafarer's Paradise Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

seafarers' paradise

seven men drowned
when a ship sank under gigantic waves
seven weeks later
they appeared on the Island of Saragossa
where singing shanty is forbidden

but seaweed is served in 7 variations
by a female ship cook, the only woman
who had been welcomed
as mess-maid was not proper sailors

as for the dead they are soaking wet
it is what keep then going, and lives in caves
lit up by electric eel and blue sea stars
the carpenter has added shelves.

strict ranks are observed, the skippers have
the biggest cave, in a smaller cave, the chief steward
drink whisky from a flask that fills itself up
insist he is an officer, is in conflict with everyone.

since the island is timeless, no one knows or care
whether it is forenoon or afternoon
they listen to the cook's bell, especially if curry is served
when it is summer, they swim with dolphins.