The Big Drift
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 2:06 pm
The Big Drift
Stephen Whiteside 13.12.2012
The wind had died. We huddled helplessly.
The current swept us swiftly out to sea.
The paddle was too small to be of help.
Upon the shore I watched a shrinking tree.
We mounted not a whimper nor a yelp,
And drifted with the bubbles and the kelp.
There wasn't any cause for great alarm.
I doubted that we'd come to any harm.
The current should deliver us once more
(As long as we stayed rational and calm),
Upon the far receding, distant shore.
Till then, though, who knew what might lie in store?
First an octopus, with suckered pads,
Frightened us - two lassies and two lads -
By reaching up...an arm? A foot? A leg?
Were we the next in its long list of fads?
One thing for sure - it took us down a peg,
Most grateful that we had a solid skeg.
It slipped away, but soon we saw a fin,
Glad that we were in a boat, not in
The water where we might have made a snack
For toothy beast. We dared a sheepish grin.
It made no move to challenge or attack,
But flicked its muscled tail and turned its back.
Lastly came to rock our little ship
A mighty ray. We only glimpsed a tip
Of wing - imagined just how large
Its body must have been. A tiny slip
Would sink our floating craft, our bobbing barge,
Let alone if it should choose to charge!
At last the ocean circle was complete.
The shore and we, it seemed, once more, would meet.
We left those fishy monsters far away,
Returned to where we had begun. How neat!
I'd not repeat it if I had my way,
Yet, still, we'd had a most exciting day!
Stephen Whiteside 13.12.2012
The wind had died. We huddled helplessly.
The current swept us swiftly out to sea.
The paddle was too small to be of help.
Upon the shore I watched a shrinking tree.
We mounted not a whimper nor a yelp,
And drifted with the bubbles and the kelp.
There wasn't any cause for great alarm.
I doubted that we'd come to any harm.
The current should deliver us once more
(As long as we stayed rational and calm),
Upon the far receding, distant shore.
Till then, though, who knew what might lie in store?
First an octopus, with suckered pads,
Frightened us - two lassies and two lads -
By reaching up...an arm? A foot? A leg?
Were we the next in its long list of fads?
One thing for sure - it took us down a peg,
Most grateful that we had a solid skeg.
It slipped away, but soon we saw a fin,
Glad that we were in a boat, not in
The water where we might have made a snack
For toothy beast. We dared a sheepish grin.
It made no move to challenge or attack,
But flicked its muscled tail and turned its back.
Lastly came to rock our little ship
A mighty ray. We only glimpsed a tip
Of wing - imagined just how large
Its body must have been. A tiny slip
Would sink our floating craft, our bobbing barge,
Let alone if it should choose to charge!
At last the ocean circle was complete.
The shore and we, it seemed, once more, would meet.
We left those fishy monsters far away,
Returned to where we had begun. How neat!
I'd not repeat it if I had my way,
Yet, still, we'd had a most exciting day!
