The Old Canoe

(Gallery Featured Below)

Griffin and Judy

At dawn, lovers part,

more fishing's in store -

for they seek new riches

off Newport's cold shore.

Year conquers year

as they toil the great sea,

for through spray and fog

they have grappled with thee.

Once landed with catch

they're home, berthed for more,

arrived here at last

on Newport's cold shore.

While moored alongside

protected from storms,

the pier lies between -

and lovers are torn.

So close yet so far,

they're mere feet away,

they both rise and fall

on the waves of the day.

Groaning, protesting,

they tug at the lines,

aching for freedom

to join just one time.

But the pier is quite firm -

this isn't to be -

affairs of the heart

belong to the sea.

With each passing year

their surfaces age -

paint chips and steel rusts

while they're moored in their cage.

For all they can do

is stare and cry out,

as others move on,

around and about.

One day one returned,

his berth became bare -

and Judy sat still without any care.

For Griffin is gone on eternal sail,

and Judy sits silent

without any wail.

The sea is that way,

it's cruel, is it not?

Some live and some die

and some others rot.

Soon another is moored -

a stranger is he -

the cycle begins,

right here by the sea.

But Judy will leave,

her days soon be done,

as she will set sail

out into the sun.

No one will know

of what went on here,

of the love that lived

right here on the pier.

It is their story,

not yours and not mine -

it's special to them

in their space and time.

So when you next see

two craft feet apart,

remember this yarn

and affairs of heart.

There's love in all things

both in ship and in man -

reunion and loss,

the blessed and the damned.

~ Bill Breneman ~