An Ode To The Sea

I wake up at nights, the fear that the sea is calling out to me again keeps me from sleeping. I was once a sailor - I ruled the blue seas up until the eyes could see and today I tremble at the sound of the waves; they keep me up at night. I don't think I was a gifted sailor, rather a good ship captain and was more concerned about the ship for that would keep me afloat out in the wide expanse and that is where I directed all my energy. I bore many storms and the highest waves but this one was different - the storms started getting wilder, the rain lashed the vessel like battering rams smashing the gates of a great empire about to fall. I fell. The ship lost. Captain shipwrecked.

Coming to think of it, I tried summoning the sea immediately, once I nursed myself back, I tried calming it down but failed, the sea preferred to stick to its behavior of being wild and free, what could I have done, I tried making amends, in vain!

Here I am today, back on the cliff that oversees that massive water body, almost close to jumping into the sea, just before the plunge but my confidence fails me. The sight of water or anything associated with it makes me tremble, I think it has to do with the massive failure as a Captain. Not that the sea is hostile, it is just what it is, except I have changed, I haven't been the same. Back on the cliff, I tremble I break into a song but I don't summon the sea, I just turn back and walk away. Aware of my presence the sea lends a helping hand to bring me back up but I am no more Sindbad, just another sailor trying his hand at conquering what was once mine.

I lost all in the wreck, except a memory of my vessel remains, the hardships have all vanished only the goods remain, I try every day to get back to the sea but today is going to be different, I will break into a song, summon the sea, but today I won't be at the cliff, rather on the shore; the waves will be the orchestra and the birds an audience, the fish shall dance to the tunes and the clouds pour down for this is my magnum opus. I may never return, for it seems an improbable task, but I shall leave with one grand ending. I may not be sailing today, but I shall sing and narrate it today.

'The sea calls out to me on a moonless night,
I resist the call and take flight
The open sea is wild and not a safe place to be
I conquered it and know, how that feels.

The sea calls out to me during the lowest tide
I resist the call and take flight
The sea is unpredictable and that shipwrecked me
I quit being a sailor, I am free.

The sea calls out to me, I know not why
I resist the call and take flight
The sea is strong and needs not me
I too shall pay no heed.

The sea calls out to me, there is a sailor in tow
I resist the call and respond no more.'