POEMS - 2017 - The Old Codger

THE OLD CODGER

A lonely old codger went down to the docks,

Where an old grey schooner washed up on the rocks,

"I swear by my pipe and the hole in my socks,

She was once mine on the Panama Locks."

“We sailed the oceans side by side,

We rode the waves with stars as guides,

We cleared the cliffs on moonlit tides,

And stole from ports like pirate spies.”

“She warned me that our day would come,

That meals would turn from feast to crumb,

That all we loved would be undone,

Lest we undid our bit of fun.”

The schooner nodded back and forth,

She’d travelled long from South to North,

To land her keel against the hearth,

Of the old man’s heart for all its worth.

“Oh! Sail with me and make it right,

I’ll see you through with all my might,

I solemnly swear this is my plight,

To mend a chance so we can fight.”

The old man thought and rubbed his chin,

“Could salty seas be mine again?

Could I make real what might have been?

Could I undo the scourge of sin?”

The Captain borrowed a lick of paint,

And waxed a shine to purge the taint,

“You’re Bluenose blood even though you ain’t!

And with new socks I'll look the saint!"

The two were seen out round the cape,

With many a scar from many a scrape,

They cleverly helped the poor escape,

And tack their way through life’s red tape.

The cocky old codger was heard to cheer,

As he grinned in the wind from ear to ear,

“I’ve nothing to lose and I've nothing to fear,

I've found at last what my heart holds dear.”

Sheila Willar  -  February 17, 2017

Luke 5:3 (KJV)

And He [Jesus] entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And He [Jesus] sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.