Lost at Sea

On ocean-seas of wind and rain,
The seaman set his sail
And earned his sea-legs battl'ing
Time, chance, and howling gale.

Craggy straits and rocky narrows
Took their toll of pain and loss,
And every crisis-crossing
Hung its frightful albatross.

Through years of tack and tackle
And nights of sleepless sleep,
He navigated reef and shoal
And monsters of the deep.

On decks that pitched beneath his feet,
He kept his terrors hid
And never learned to walk on waves,
Though heard of some that did.

Of golden coasts and peaceful shores
He dreamt each wat'ry mile,
But every land that hove in view
Was just a desert isle.

So he prayed and hoped for oneness
With a loving God above
Some day in sailor heaven,
Were it not a fault to love.

But when the waves are pounding
And icy winds are chill,
It's hard to hold a dream of
Golden cities on a hill.

And then one morning off The Horn,
He failed to come on deck,
And they declared him lost at sea,
Like many an ancient wreck.

So salt and ocean now were one,
A common destiny,
When the flavor of each droplet
Is the flavor of the sea.