The ship


The captain walked the deck from bow to stern
He waved to all the families ashore
There was nothing we could say, not any more
The ship was sailing, never to return

The sun rose high and soon began to burn
And day had come at last upon the land
A day that we would never understand
The ship was sailing, never to return

For there was nothing more for us to learn
Although we stood aligned upon the shore
Waiting, though we couldn’t say what for
The ship was sailing, never to return

Waves before the prow began to churn
Our loved ones slowly vanished from our view
There was only one thing that we knew
The ship was sailing, never to return

4 thoughts on “The ship”

  1. a companion poem, from Eno/Cale

    Empty Frame

    So they rode the sea,
    It went on and on
    They were years away
    Though it seemed so long
    But the captain never told them what he knew
    As the poor ship laboured on through the endless blue.

    Oh the storm was strong
    And the ship was so frail
    But they stumbled on
    Raising broken sails,
    And they held the heavy sky on their open hands
    And they dreamed of when their poor feet would touch the land.

    Baby, we’re going round in circles!
    Where is this place we’re going to?
    Does anybody know we’re out here on the waves?
    And are any of our signals coming through?

    We’re going ’round in circles.
    We have no single point of view.
    And like the clouds that turn to every passing wind,
    We turn to any signal that comes through.

    At the edge of the sea
    Were the signs of the dove —
    But the wrong way out
    And the wrong way up.
    We pushed the empty frame of reason out the cabinet door,
    No we won’t be needing reason anymore.
    Ooh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *