I'm a keeper of things
that would be lost,
that would, if they could,
disappear into thick fog
like the back of a ship
closed over by a mist so dense
it soaks a sailor's eyes
and gathers as tears on his lash.
Unblindled by the damp,
I hold tight the mast,
lash myself to packets
others throw away.
Overboard lightens someone's load
but doesn't help a ship sail true.
It doesn't pull me under,
that which would be lost;
it doesn't weigh me down.
The opposite of to be lost
is to be kept, not to be found.
nice....we need keepers of things....love the difference you make between finding and keeping in the end ...and overboard lightening someones burden but....very cool verse with hidden depth...smiles.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful verse. And I loved the ending--
ReplyDeleteYes, there are those of us who are keepers of things. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWow! Is that an illustration from Coleridge? I love those last two lines. I love the whole thing, actually.
ReplyDelete