The Omen - Part 2

The Omen, Part 2 Today was the day we’d be sailing the seas My father had said as I sat on his knees On waves of enchantment the white bird would fly In quick rising mist of the brightening sky We packed up our kettles of food for the day By  dawning, our sailboat was well under way On soft gleaming ripples of water we flew Just skimming the vastness and depths of the blue My dad said a sail’s like the wing of a bird That billows and flutters with never a word It turns its direction by flow of the wind And hands of a man’s intuition within He taught me the secrets of wind and of waves When I was a youngster in innocent days For he was a seaman by blood and by heart He said it is never too early to start That summer I learned so much more of the man And I try to remember as best as I can But on that special day I remember it all For he gave me a great gift , as I can  recall Not grown yet in wisdom, not savvy of mind But I was quite bold for a child of nine And elated with joy to be working the sails As we set out to follow the course of the whales A whale was a dream to a nine year old lad And I went there to watch them each year with my dad I knew every species that lived round the world And with each trip their beauty and power unfurled Dad knew every season of life on the sea And today the great whales would be sailing with me For this was the blueprint that God must have drawn For the whales to seek tropical waters to spawn With sun in the east and gray clouds in the west My mind on the great whales, my eyes on the crest Preparing my heart for the glory I’d view In those days a vision known only to few The breezes were shifting, the waves changing size ‘Bout six hours out under gray cloudy skies A storm had appeared as a seaman’s surprise But passed to the east, never touching our eyes “Look out to the starboard!”, my father exclaimed To a wild and furious commotion I strained To capture the sight on which Dad’s eyes were trained A small pod of dolphins so gloriously came But far overshadowing beauty and grace Was the will of their motion, the speed of their pace Not  lured or attracted to small sailing boat Their fins waving wildly, their eyes were remote I never saw dolphins this firmly intent In skimming the waters so furiously bent On speed and endurance on straight steady trail Like wings in the wind they so rapidly sailed Then passing our sailboat they never looked back For there was a predator well on their track A whale in a rhythm of glory and speed Was dapperly chasing the source of his need Both dolphin and orca were riding the waves In up and down motions that truly amaze Without hesitation we readied the sails To follow the mammals on swift ocean trails Not far in the distance our vessel had sailed Where the force of an orca at once was unveiled With razor sharp teeth he devoured his prey With tails flapping wildly in sea water spray The dolphin was lifeless, the orca then swept The bloody remains to the sea water’s depth My father said this was an unrehearsed scene That never appeared in his wildest dream I stood there in silence, a tear in my eye But never an honorable seaman should cry We both stood in silence as all disappeared The rest of the dolphin pod fled out of fear The ocean was stained with the blood of the one Who was ripped by an orca, as dreams came undone The red slowly mixed with the waters of green And disappeared slowly beneath silver sheen Then sickened a bit but contented to learn The ways of the ocean, we headed for home Toward east where the darkness still covered the sky By a storm that by fortune had passed us on by The dusk was approaching as we headed through The gates of the bay that our vessel well knew Though Clark’s Point was lit, all the city was dark For the storm left a trail of electrical spark We pulled into dock and could see right away The wind damage done to the boats in the bay A furious storm, said a man, wind and hail Who knew not the fury of dolphin and whale We gathered the sails, and with everything tight We covered the boat in the coolness of night Then heading for home, both were silent and cold For a memory was etched in the pits of our soul So warm was our kitchen, so tasty the meal But deep down inside my dismay I could feel My father said, son, tell me what did you find That heavily weighs on your heat and your mind I told him the dolphins could never be free From the likes of an orca much bigger than he And I’ll never again care to glide and to sail Alongside a mammal as mean as a whale My father then calmed me, his eyes sparkling bright In the candle’s soft glowing and magical light He said there’s a story in each candle stick That burns in its own time the tall candlewick I‘ll tell you a tale that the fires would lick In soft misty breezes from out foggy thick I nodded my head for my father to start To tell me a tale that would comfort my heart By the time that this taper is fully consumed You’ll understand well why the dolphin was doomed And hold more respect for the orca and whale The depth of his mind and the strength of his tail The story was told by my Grandfather Will Who could turn any story to wonder and thrill As we all sat around in a tavern one night And heard him repeat Anna’s terrible plight I was a youngster quite bold for my age And Grandfather Will had the mind of a sage With a black raven perched in the rafters that night My head was a’spinning, my heart full of fright By the time that a candle had burned wick of wax No one in the tavern could even relax So wrought with the anguish we felt for the crew In a story we knew to be honest and true He told of a ghost who each morning would stand To watch o’er the Anna; he once had command Of this beautiful schooner that sank in the sea And he said that this Captain looked so much like me He showed me an album with sketch of his face A drawing of someone I soon would embrace The honor he felt for the mammal at sea Made me proud to part of a man such as he For I am descendent of him and his son And six generations of stories I’ve won Of bravery and honor, respect for all life And with that I abandoned my fear and my strife Our ancestors came from the land of the kings Bound with a kinship by strong golden strings And all of them nurtured by waves of the sea And stories still dangling from the Grey family tree But I was a youngster and fifty years back My visions of life were a little off track The tale of a blue whale, an ocean that churned Took hold of my heart as the candle wick burned ******** But now, here I am, with a grandson in tow Telling him all about all the secrets I know We went on this tour boat to follow the whales A ferry boat vessel without any sails The day was quite windy, the timing was right, For migrating whales in their seasonal flight The waves a bit choppy, but everyone stood And witnessed the wonders as best as they could A lesson in sea life, a look at some whales The twilight was near as we stood by the rails My grandson was happy and giggled with glee His first look at whales swimming out in the sea But a drizzle sent most to the cabin’s warm seats Their eyes growing weary, their mission complete The sea grew quite rocky and some were in fear Of a storm that was gathering ever so near An hour away from our destined retreat With waves at the windows and doom at our feet The captain announced to hold tight and sit near But women and children were crying in fear I thought of a plan that would comfort them all A story that would be a tale they’ll recall And I had a strange feeling not one of them knew The depths of the eye of a whale they call ”Blue” I said, gather round and I’ll tell you a tale About the impossible feats of a whale He spews out a fountain of mystical mist And speaks with a whale-like linguistical twist But his secrets revealed from the black of his eye To the depths of his spirit, no one can deny The passengers listened with interested ear The story of Anna, the one I hold dear The time had just melted away like a wick With a flame from the mist that would wildly lick The words of enchantment from out of a storm A message that made heart and spirit stay warm I tried to embellish my tale with some jokes And drew smiles and laughter from all of the folks Who were hanging on tightly to seats and to tale Forgetting the dangers at sea in the gale They listened intently and some chimed right in With their own bit of humor in the lights growing dim We calmed down the children who laughed with delight At a raven who perched in the tavern that night I said not a raven all day did I see The children were laughing and clapping with glee In fact I have not passed one limb of a birch For it’s been a few summers since I’ve gone to church Then one woman said  This will always remain A day of adventure my mind will retain For you’ve captured my heart with your wisdom and wit As I trembled in fear on this bench where we sit An hour had passed and my story was done Some friends I had made and some hearts I had won   As I ended the deeds of our dear Captain Grey Best spinner of yarns up to this very day Repeated in taverns the tale full of fright By a candlewick burning late into the night Each Grey generation possesses the trait Of an eloquent tongue and tale full of fate Then I turned to my grandson and whispered his way Some day you’ll repeat this, my young Willy Grey For you already speak with an interesting gist Each tale that you tell has an unforeseen twist This all was passed down from the mouths of the dead Perhaps they believed every word that I said I’ll tell you a secret between you and me ‘Twas the Captain that started this tale of the sea So listen, my grandson, and you too will be A teller of stories plucked off of our tree And all those who hear will  believe that they’re true But the truth of this story I leave up to you When the flame of intrigue disappears from the wick And the wax melts it down from a tall candlestick Your listeners will praise you, it never will fail The lessons they learn from an eye of a whale A tale that a flame in a deep mist would lick Much taller a tale than the whale Moby Dick ******** Grandfather, you are the best one it seems A spinner of yarns, and a dreamer of dreams I hope that some day you will take me a’sail On the ocean of dreamers to visit a whale It is 2002, and yet you have told A tale of adventure that never grows old I feel as though I am the young lad whose name Was etched on the tongue of a flickering flame Perhaps I was he with the eyes gleaming bright In the glow of a voice in the tavern’s dim light A granddad whose love would come echoing free Through each story he told, just as yours does to me I’ll always be true to the name that still sings The songs of the seamen, the tale that still rings From a Captain whose kin came from land of the kings Written March 30th, 2002 © on Mar 29 2002 11:50 PM PST   0 • 10