The Old Man At The Sea Poem by Joe Hughes
The Old Man At The Sea
He stands silently looking seaward,
Perhaps longing to be free?
To be free from land's firm clutches
To roam the endless sea?
Perhaps he's just a dreamer?
Staring at a peaceful tide.
Or was he once a surfer
Dreaming of huge waves to ride?
There's a sadness in his staring,
Looking neither left nor right.
Standing on a lonely boardwalk
From dawn to late at night.
His suit has seen its best of days.
His shirt unbuttoned at the top.
There's a pride - Yes! There's a longing
For his looking never stops.
Does he see his early youth
On a Merchant Navy ship?
Did he fish the deepest oceans
On each fraught, each dangerous trip?
Did he lose his dearest love one
In a battle with the foam?
Or does he spend his lonely hours
Wishing that the sea was home?
There's an ocean full of questions
Which he would think absurd.
There's a sea so full of answers
Which never will be heard!
That was a joy to read! Was it inspired by someone you actually saw! ?
Thanks Joe, I can see this old guy so clearly. He is all of us. I love the last verse which lifts the poem into philosophy.
So PH, we have gone back to giving this section to poets who haven't been members for 4+ years?
Actually, Kelly, his last six poems were posted on March 4 of this year.
Amazing thoughts woven in a captivating poem which is full of rhythm and rhyme too. Heartiest Congrats on it's selection as member poem of the Day.
Wonderful thing I notice here is Poet's ability to paint the picture in it's natural beauty that he himself beheld. Although he had been in a position to use metaphoric terms, phrases etc. in doing so, I particularly like the simple diction he has used, not forgetting rhyme and rhythm as well, for the purpose. I also see the same figure he saw at the sea. Thanks for sharing. Congrats for being the well deserved poem of he day.X
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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12/4/2025 7:11:08 AM # 1.0.0
A pleasure to read...paints pictures...I loved it.