A Scholar At The Helm

We put out to sea
the Captain and me
and I marveled at the artist
as he painted
a thousand years of wisdom
on his canvas of seashore
and ocean and sky,
laying on decades of colors
and layers of all things passing
and of all things passed by.
He spun me some yarns
of seafaring men, of heroes and louts
(and of a pirate or two lurking about).
He showed me the ghosts in the marshes
and the haints in the sound
And where dead ships abound
that sail quietly through the night.
We saw thousands of flights
of millions of birds.
And I marveled as I listened
to the sounds that we heard.
I saw the catches of silvery fins
pulled free from the deep
to grace the tables of paupers and kings.
The Captain has shown
these wondrous things to me.
Through his mind’s eye shines
the depths and its boundless glory
and herein lies the endless story.
So close your eyes and open your heart
and within these images you will find
a lifetime of treasures
that still live on
in the hearts and minds
of many a treasure hunter