Little ship within a ship, one oar adrift
sail furled tight as a rollup, tight as a blind
that naval Dad always said he never went to sea.
Rudder tilts a shade to port
sails: the green of cricket pitches
no two grandmas in the stern
one crochets bog roll dollies
one chops boiled meat for the strays
no dog's head prow, no ship's cats, rats
That naval Dad - artificer - took the tiller
that mother with her three ringed madness
cakes and pies and sunning out with books
No wheel - just angles, lines of rigging
don't admit that you're encased, safe
looking out through glass at all
the high seas - dangerous, compelling
Comments
Sooz006 | February 9, 2008 - 14:57
I didn't *quite* get this. I felt it quivering right on the brink of understanding ...and then lost it again.
But no matter literal or symbloic you drew some pretty pictures.
Richard L. Prov... | February 12, 2008 - 19:12
Hello, I can see from your excellent images, the participants in the ship passing time. My wife's great....great grandfather came to Canada in 1792 from Yorkshire, via ship. I'm sure similar activities took place within the friendship of his fellow passengers. RLP