Ode to a Pilgrim
For Annabel Listen to: Ode to a Pilgrim As I beheld the twilight at the end of day, The trade winds gathered from the south and east, White-crested waves broke hard against the hull, To cast cascades of spray upon the breeze. A scattered flight of calling migrant birds Bore witness to our steady progress south, And called me from my watchful solitude, Beneath the saffron and rose-washed light of dusk. The unruly breeze brought sooty terns to feed And seek their prey among the dancing waves, Then soon the albatross came soaring by, In silhouette against the twilight sky. As heaven’s amber hues gave way to night, In gusting wind, that pilgrim stayed beside The ship, to fly within my widest reach, And hold me fast with her piercing watchful eyes. With skill and sovereign grace our pilgrim Discerned her path across the boundless ocean, While I employed mean time and precious sextant, To grope my way amidst the sun and stars. My feeble feats of ordinary pilotage, Were naught to suc