There's an abandoned tug listing to port
moored up near Brentford Ait
it's been quite a while since anyone cared
so it's in quite a terrible state
There's a wolf on the bow so there was some intent
at a time for it boldly to go
perhaps plying for trade on Old Father Thames
on the water to go with the flow
But those days are gone long time now I fear
and the listing says more than words can
that this once proud lady now slips away
from the time she proudly began
It's fading fast but still remains
a shadow of its former shine
and yet this forlorn memory
is something I still cherish, mine
For though its owners are long gone
and its superstructure fails
there are some precious memories
which passing time quite oft regales
And as they fade there into time
the vista north steadfast and true
of precious Shoreham by the sea
remains there in its fading view
There's a green ship in the harbour
up the river quite a bit
much further on than usual
so I took a pic of it
Rarely dredged of course these days
the building silt means most
will rarely venture up this far
at Shoreham on the coast
A far cry from my yesterdays
when every berth was full
so good to see the odd one still
with time's incessant pull
Nestling in the harbour
at the yacht club yesterday
a jolly pretty sailboat
I espied whilst on my way
So I made a little detour
across the Adur Ferry Bridge
so that I could take a photo
as a special privilege
For this was something special
canvas sails a-hoisted high
just waiting for the tide to turn
as we all wandered by
Sadly that was hours away
so I couldn't see it sail
but the sight I captured of it
makes for smiles here to regale
There’s a little boat bobbing
on the waves just out there
Alone in the water
its white hull a-glare
Catching the sun as
it catches the sea
Glinting like diamonds
quite brilliantly
It’s sails are all furled
so it’s clearly at rest
and on days such as these
that is much for the best
Islands in the distance
across the azure seas
A force five blowing from the east
feels like a summer breeze
Kefalonia looming
on the horizon through the haze
For a seven-hour stopover
on the last but one of days
And it really is quite magical
here up at the prow
Watching our approach to land
so quiet and peaceful now
[This is part 16 of a 20-part series charting a seven-day cruise with Tui from 11-18 August 2017, travelling from London to Corfu, then Kalamata (Greece), Santorini, Rhodes, Crete, Piraeus (Greece), Kefalonia, Corfu and London, some 3,870 nautical miles]
There’s a boat on the river
that’s sad and bereft
For I’m sorry to say
there’s not a lot of it left
Abandoned to fate
several years ago now
It’s slowly been fading
from its stern to its bow
It’s been vandalised and
set on fire once or twice
and been covered in graffiti
which of course isn’t nice
Bits of it gradually
have washed out to sea
As its structure has failed
on its final journey
Yet despite all this trouble
it remains in the place
where it was last moored
on its first fall from grace
So with the eye of my camera
and the voice of my pen
I’ll record its demise
as I pass now and then
For I don’t know how long
its salted beams will
remain visible here
so I’ll continue until
It finally disintegrates
and succumbs to the deep
can no longer be seen
and finds peaceful sleep
...all about me and my life in words. I write most days, carrying an ideas book around in which I capture a word snapshot of life around me. So there's a lot here about Sussex and the sea and anything else I see that inspires.
The pictures are mine too. Some taken to match a poem; some poems written to match a pic; others chosen because they work well with words written.
Jemverse is life in words. Hope you enjoy the reading as much as I enjoy the writing...
Jemverse 