I am a man

by poetrydiary

A man, like a ship on an endless sea,
I am, and I watch where the mermaids go;
searching and yearning for a place to be.

Far from a harbour with nowhere to flee,
baggage overboard and few stores below;
a man, like a ship on an endless sea.

If only I’d listened when they spoke to me,
and not, like a boy, played the toy hero,
searching and yearning for a place to be.

I held to illusions, safe beside the quay;
too eager to please, and to wait for the flow:
no man, no ship, and not out at sea.

And now I’ve set sail, but the ship’s in the lee;
It’s hard and it hurts, as I’ll first have to row:
searching and yearning for a place to be.

This world is wide, and her best is free.
I’m glad that at last, at the end I know;
I’m a man, like a ship on an endless sea,
searching and yearning for a place to be.

——————-

This is a villanelle – my first attempt at this form, which I have been feeling like trying for a week or two. I like the gentle rhythm the pattern imposes on the poem, like waves and the sea (although apparently villanelle is an Italian sixteenth century pastoral style of poetry). It’s also fun to try proper rhyming structures occasionally!

Submitted to Poets United.