Vagabond Mother

The nights of mist bite coldly through
The tattered shawls around her form,
While flakes of snow fall soft to greet
The shivering shadows of her tears.
An overpass does not shelter,
Nor does the lintel of a door;
Only thoughts of lost innocence
When she was young, with braided hair.

The child clings unto the teat
With eyes as wide as saucer-pans;
He sucks, yet finds not nourishment
To end his suckling, swaddle-cries.
So suck again—he’ll only try
In hopes that it will end the pangs,
While the void in his stomach grows
To match the pupils of his eyes.

“A dollar please, for formula”
Has now become her formal cry;
(Sometimes her hunger runs
More freely then her infant sons.)
There was a time, when she was young
That she drank not the dregs of fear;
Only cream from the frothy cup
Of the man-servants softened hands.

Yet, time does change, and bastard sons
Do end the innocence of youth.
So now—so frozen she could be
The breeding grounds of snow itself—
She gasps, and with fingers clasps
Her body closer to her sons.
In hopes that someone will pass by
And give the child life again.

The Village by the Sea

The winters’ fog does sleep upon
A filmy, sunken sand
While mothers sons play anon
The solid, stony land;

A playful breeze tossed to the shore
With foam upon her heels—
Her salty sweat does sing of lore,
Of Angelfish, and eels.

And fishermen set sail within
The charming grasp of sea,
Their limbs, to water, as akin
As grass is unto me.

Where creeping turf and tundra grow
Clambering up the cliffs,
The whistling waves do beat below
With loud and violent fists;

The morning sings while whalers come
To gather bric-a-brac,
For, when the rising tide is done
They’ll go a-whaling back.

Their iron tubs a hollow gourd
(Hence their daily toil)
But, whence they’ve whaled—almighty Lord—
Lard be turned to oil!

The monstrous beast with foaming jaw
And terror in its eye,
Is ready prey by Natures law
To deal out death, or die.

Hark! The whale-ship with harpoon
Is ready now to strike,
And bets are made with bronze doubloon
As if the beast will fight;

Yes, fight it tries with ivory teeth
Yet steel does pierce its skin,
Until its breath is brought to cease
And flail its dorsal fin.

And, when their through, to dock they come
To taverns on the brink;
For, when the day is good and done
Forget all else and drink!

The stars reflect upon the shore—
A dazzling diamond haze—
Recalling thoughts of nights before
And thoughts of future days,

While lighthouse flares do part the mist,
For fishermen at night
Return to maidens they once kissed
To finish their delight.

Near docks and dunes recalled by me:
The little village by the sea.