The Spirit of the Sea

By Vihaan Riju

The old and wearied ship groaned powerfully through the sea, 

Carrying the captain, us shipmates and a cargo of tea, 

All the way to distant lands where few have been, 

To trade with distant peoples fewer still have seen

The waters are boundless and blue, glittering in the sun, 

The cloudless sky above, seems to be with it one,

The waves rise and crash with the guttural sound of thunder

The ineffable vastness and beauty leave one in wonder! 

In the night ‘tis calmer, when the ocean becomes a darksome abyss,

Lit only by the moon and stars, one is invited to reflect and reminisce, 

On the struggles left behind, the journey experienced at present, 

And all that which is in the misty future, and whether it shall be present

The infinity of the world has long been rendered untrue, 

By scientists with their wigs, the harbingers of the new, 

So eventually some strip of land does jut out of the sea, 

Many men here do cry out and cheer, but never me

Never shall the land, with its green grass and trees, 

Be as much home to me as the bounding blue seas, 

To me, the salty wind, the roaring waves, and the horizon masked in mystery

Shall ever be where I belong, my place in all of history

By Vihaan Riju