The Open Sea
We say the sea is lonely; better say
Ourselves are lonesome creatures whom the sea
Gives neither yes or no for company.
Oh, there are people, all right, settled in the sea–
It is as populous as Maine today–
But no one who will give you the time of day.
A man who asks there of his family
Or a friend or teacher gets a cold reply
Or finds him dead against that vast majority.
They are speechless. And the famous noise of the sea,
Which a poet has beautifully told us in our day,
Is hardly a sound to speak comfort to the lonely.
Although not yet a man given to prayer, I pray
For each creature lost since the start of the sea,
And give thanks that it was not I, nor yet one close to me.
