»
Archives
»
Open Poetry #4
»
The Isles of Orkney
| Open Poetry #4 |
|
The Isles of Orkney |
|
|
Corinne Member Ascendant
since 1999-10-28
Posts 5167state of confusion 
|
Past the Isles of Orkney he sails Eschewing bitter November rain Fog obscures his solitary passage No landmarks to guide him home Nearing John O’Gloats after three months at sea Sent of the moors filling his heart with joy Hoping for a glimpse of the high rugged cliffs A sentinel called the “Old Man of Hoy” His face reddened by cold and Scottish whiskey To take the edge off lonely nights His thoughts run to the sunken ships below Buried treasures and hidden tales of woe Listens closely to the crashing waves Rocky reefs surrounding him now A treacherous channel he is aware But caution he has now forgotten In his efforts to hurry back home He thinks of her, cooking up a stew Or stoking the old rock fireplace Recalls the gurgling sound of the burn Behind the house where he was born He desires to see the haunting monoliths Thousands of years old, keepers of secrets Until the storm of 1850 blew away sands Revealing sunken rooms aligned with the sun And winter solstice was not far away He longed for their songs of mystery The ancient souls of the Isles of Orkney She knew he was near, could feel it But her heart was ice-cold, an unnamed fear She checked the stew, the stock of ale Clean cotton sheets on the marriage bed Then stood on the porch, hands on hips Willing him to come safely home He navigated as best he could Using sound to guide his way It wasn’t enough this stormy day Crashing into the craggy reef So close to shore, he knew He could swim it, he was sure So he dove off into the rough sea She called his name out loud just once And knew that he was gone Ran to get the neighbor for help The move of a desperate one And winter solstice was not far away He longed for their songs of mystery The ancient souls of the Isles of Orkney (c) 1999 Corinne Bailey |
||
| © Copyright 1999 Corinne - All Rights Reserved | |||
|
Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
Sad, beautiful tale, Corinne. A captivating piece! Very well done! ------------------ Denise |
||
|
Corinne Member Ascendant
since 1999-10-28
Posts 5167state of confusion |
thank you, Denise! Corinne |
||
|
Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
This slipped down far too quickly! UP YOU GO! ------------------ Denise |
||
|
Ohme Senior Member
since 1999-07-17
Posts 816Texas |
 Very sad tale, Very well done  |
||
|
|
⇧ top of page ⇧ |
|
| All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format. | ||