The Tale of a Sailor's True Love
Written February 25th, 2012
Many long years ago in a time of old
A goddess of unparalleled beauty ruled the sea
She alone brewed the storms and caused waves to fold
Sailors both loved and feared her dangerous beauty
The goddess delivered from the waves and her gentle breath
A daughter of her own creation, the fairest maiden
She walked upon the earth, a mortal vulnerable to death
Her beauty far surpassed her mother’s, who regretted what she had laiden
For no longer was the ocean spirit the object of lore
Her daughter traveled the lands, moving with a greater grace
It was her that all the men of the world came to adore
In all of history there was no more stunning a face
Bitter and seething with anger and jealousy
The powerful goddess emerged from the waves in a rage
Seizing her daughter’s mortality and casting her to the bottom of the sea
Wishing to be idolized, she took upon herself the ability to age
While her envious mother walked upon the earth
The fair daughter became the new Queen of the sea
Her mother had taken from her all her friends and mirth
Damning her to a lonely, cold eternity
Many a long decade passed in this way
As the years flew she regretted her hand in her daughter’s fate
Nearing the end of her life, her stunning beauty began to decay
Transformed into a wretched hag by the remorse she could not abate
On a secluded peaceful isle not far from mainland
In a modest shack that rocked in the wind
Lived a middle-aged sailor with palms rough as sand
An orphan who grew up alone, on the sea much of his love was pinned
His small tough ship was his closest friend
His metallic irises the grey of a forceful hurricane
On his nautical journeys good weather always did send
From his devoted years on the water much fame he gained
Each silver moonlit night he walked along the isle shore
His bare feet met by gentle kisses of the lapping sea
When he gazed upon the waves he knew there was nothing he loved more
For he never had a woman in his life to set his loneliness free
His endless love for the sparkling water and the salty winds only grew
He liked to kneel on the beach and feel the cool ocean on his worn hands
The ocean spirit, so gentle, loved him in turn, and wished he knew
Though trapped on the sea floor, her heart glowed like sunlight on golden sands
At night she waited, with her soft moonlit waters aglow
For him to take his stroll beneath tropic starlight
With each loving glance he cast upon her, her heart filled with sorrow
Her imprisonment of goddess immortality her greatest plight
Her heart breaking with the force of her daughter’s despair
The ugly remains of a once-lavish sea queen
Left her secluded mountain home and set sail for his isle lair
A long journey, she passed many nations and faced all the vile sea creatures in between
Landing finally on his shores on a warm summer night
Bathed in lovely moon beams and awash with gentle breezes
She raced down the beach to the sailor, giving him a fright
“I am here to rescue my daughter, before her heart from loneliness freezes!”
Raising a wrinkled, twisted hand in the air
The water near the beach began to gleam with radiant light
And from the waters rose a sweet maiden so fair
Entering once more into the lovely caresses of night
The long elegant hair of the gorgeous ocean soul
Was the majestic white-gold hue of water glittering beneath the sun
It flowed silkier and softer than the mane of a newborn foal
But in reference to her hair the beauty had just begun
Her eyes glittered brighter than any star ever seen
Shaded beneath sweeping sunlit eyelashes
Her gentle irises radiated a brilliant aquamarine
Reflecting the moonlight in dazzling flashes
Her skin was painted in delicate pale shades
Reminiscent of the clouds on a clear summer day
Softer than cotton that grows in secret, lovely glades
Glowing faintly with the beauty of calm waters in May
Crafted with the utmost care; a summery face
Atop a slender body with curves like the rolling sea
Her stride performed with a flowing, liquid grace
She was the most beautiful creation to ever be
Thunderstruck, with tears in his stormy eyes, his heart open wide,
The rough wiry sailor fell to his knees on the beach
Her heart’s desire fulfilled, she rushed to his side
The decrepit sea hag smiled, and opened her withered lips for a speech
“Dear sailor, I am the spirit of the great oceans
In envy of her beauty, this maiden’s happiness I tried to slaughter
While imprisoned in the waves, you showed her such care and devotion
In my rage, the very things I failed to give my own daughter
During my time on earth, trying to win back my fame
I felt the guilt of banishing her to deep bottomless blue
For my grotesque appearance, I have only myself to blame
And in my heart I know I can only make amends by giving her unto you
So, I wish upon you a bond of great love and health
Across this splendid world may your descendents roam
And I bid that you find great fortune and wealth”-
She cast a long glance at the water- “It is time I returned home.”
The ocean maiden raced forth and embraced the old sage
And all was forgiven of the atrocities of before
She turned and was swallowed by the sea gently as a turning page
Mother restored to her throne and daughter mortal once more
The sailor and maiden embraced, so deeply in love
Wherever she touched, his body became once more strong and young
Within her the spirit of the ocean, she was the lady he always dreamed of
Never again from his mouth would a lonely song be sung
Colored with the faint pink of a conch shell were her lips
And upon his she placed a whispering kiss
While in his palms he held her full supple hips
To always remain together was their only wish
As they embraced beneath the endless night sky
He said “I cannot wait, tomorrow become my wife!”
She held his face in her velvet palms, with a tear in her eye
She answered “With you I’ll have a long happy life.”
Soon into great wealth they befell
And the rickety shack on the isle became a magnificent household
Strong enough to resist every hurricane and ocean swell
Together in this mansion they shared the greatest love ever to behold
Many children and grandchildren from them came
Descendants with sunlit hair and irises grey like a storm
In history there was never a family quite the same
So kind and beautiful and hearts glowing warm
Never was a single man so envied across the world
For he had the loveliest wife, beautiful as the sea
From distant lands men sought his daughters and grand-girls
He even lived long enough that a great granddad he came to be
The beach on which he lived was riddled with many a footprint
For each night he still walked hand-in-hand with his gentle wife
Followed by many related faces on which moonlight did glint
The bigger his family grew the happier he was with his life
At the end of many a blissful decade
His fair ocean maiden was laid on a bed of white
In her age her boundless beauty never did fade
Her long grey hair still silken and shining with summer sunlight
On a brilliant summer night, the most beautiful ever seen
The elderly sailor took one last stroll with his wife
Followed by soft songs of passing and many a woeful keen
Carrying her lifeless body in his arms, she was still the greatest love of his life
He waded out into the welcoming warm tide
A lifetime of memories shimmering in his eyes, he was both joyous and forlorn
Kissing her spring flower lips one last time as he cried
He let go and returned her to the waves from whence she was born
The entire coastline was set aglow
As the fair maiden’s mother came ashore
Taking in her arms her sweet daughter, and carried her down to the kingdom below
Though the maiden’s descendants know the truth, the story became ancient lore
Each night of the year, an old sailor strolls down the shore
A faint ache in his heart as he slides through the sand with his cane
Watching the lovely velvet waves that remind him of someone from years before
A smile on his face as his wise old mind wonders how many years remain
Before he can be once more with his greatest love;
The ocean spirit; the beautiful maiden he still dreams of.
----
This poem took me the better part of a day to write, and may be the longest poem I have yet completed. It is dedicated to my great grandparents; my great grandmother, recently deceased, and my great grandfather, who lives on now without his other half. They were a beautiful couple, married for over sixty years, and together they created a beautiful extensive family. The ocean theme is fitting, because while my grandfather is not a sailor, he does live on a house by a lake that he frequently fishes in.
Here's to the real kind of love, the eternal kind that travels beyond the boundaries of life and death.
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