The Mermen

 

Why do they come here,

The men to the sea?

To glance at their papers,

to know who is free?

 

The shadows of cities

do not follow here.

Collectors and debtors

are all as one tear.

 

One man is lonely,

he’s lost her again.

He casts a stone seaward

in memory of pain.

 

A man sits in silence,

for hard times are here,

but, upon the ocean,

there’s only one fear.

 

For even the poor man

who shakes, head in hands,

and never finds shelter,

can here make a stand.

 

His life is the ocean.

He knows Her and he

is never without Her –

a man by the sea.

 

 

 

© Andrew Williams 1993

 

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