________________________________________________
Title: "Shipping News"
Author: David Morton [
More Titles by Morton]
(A Maritime Paper)
Here is the record of their splendid days:
The curving prow, the tall and stately mast,
And all the width and wonder of their ways,
Reduced to little printed words, at last;
The Helen Dover docks, the Mary Ann
Departs for Ceylon and the Eastern trade;
Arrived: The Queen, with cargoes from Japan,
And Richard Kidd, a tramp, and Silver Maid.
The narrow print is wide enough for these:
But here: "Reported missing" ... the type fails,
The column breaks for white and angry seas,
The jagged spars thrust through, and flapping sails
Flagging farewells to wind and sky and shore,
Arrive at silent ports, and leave no more.
[The end]
David Morton's poem: "Shipping News"
________________________________________________
GO TO TOP OF SCREEN
