Sailing

 



In a picture on a wall

There is a boy so small,

A boat behind him sits

Wooden boards behind him fit

Into the dingy ready to sail.

Mute-white material to hail

To the top of the tallest mast.


On the mantle-piece below

All sitting in a perfect row

Many knots that link from mast to bow

Like a common knowledge you have to know

To know all these knots remembering

The simplistic terms for sailing.


Here we are today sitting by the river

Now that small boy an adult – the giver

Of that vital information

With determined concentration

How a boat is rigged

From head to foot and ribbed

To set sail upon a water clear

And how we can pretend to be

A simple brigadier


I watch him with much delight

My own knots not so bright

My small dingy low to the ground

The wind clipping metal – an interesting sound

I enjoy the sailing

Not the boring rigging

On my own I could sail afar

Much better and quieter than the car.



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