A song

[Keith Wilson]

Where are the ships that have sailed the seas
Out to the setting of suns long past?
Broken and gone, and the tumbling seas
Have covered them over from first to last.

Noraway Snekkr out of the north,
Galleys of Venice, tall ships of Spain,
With strong men singing, have all gone forth,
And the sea lies bare to the drifting rain.

[ishmael]

Not a song, and I've posted it before, but I think this poem is about perfect.

James Wright

A Blessing

Just off the Highway to Rochester, Minnesota
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl's wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.