The Barquentine

I was staring at the horizon on

A clear and balmy day,

The sky was blue and the sea a type

Of aquamarine in the bay,

There wasn’t a sign of storm or squall

Till the sunset turned dull red,

And then the sky, of a sudden turned

From blue to the grey of lead.

And you were stood there, Geraldine

With your collar turned up high,

You shivered once, then looked around

Took note of the darkening sky,

‘Is that a barque or a barquentine

I see tied up to the pier?’

And slowly, filtering into my view

Was a ship that wasn’t there.

It hadn’t been there all afternoon

It hadn’t sailed into the bay,

I’m sure that I would have noticed if

It was fifteen miles away,

But there it sat with its stays and sails

Reefed in and sitting becalmed,

But dark and ever so threatening

I was right to feel alarmed.

Then Geraldine ran along the pier,

I was trying to call her back,

When lightning lit the sky above

With a sudden tumultuous crack,

She turned just once and she called to me:

‘Don’t follow, it’s my fate!

The ship’s the Admiral Benbow,

I’m a hundred years too late.’

She ran, and her coat flew out behind

Like an ancient type of cape,

And on the deck of the barquentine

Were men, with mouths agape,

A single plank lay across the pier

And up to the wooden bow,

Which Geraldine clambered up to board

While I stood, and wondered how?

No sooner was she aboard, than then

The men gave up a cheer,

And she I saw in the arms of one,

A brigand privateer,

She waved just once, then she went below

To my ever present pain,

The love of my life, my Geraldine,

I never saw again.

The wind blew up and the rain came down

And the barque then raised its sails,

Was cast adrift in a heaving sea

In that coastal port of Wales,

And then I swear, the Captain came

To the bow, and then he leered,

And by the time that I turned around

That barque had disappeared.

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

Amazing story shared my friend. I felt the sea and I saw her. Thank you for sharing your outstanding tales.
Coyote

[Tony Jordan]

I felt for the man who had been left behind - literally kept in the dark by his erstwhile love.
You transport the reader so well David.
Excellent.

[TPK Stories]

Wonderfully romantic yet chilling ghost story.

[Valentine]

Very witty write. I love those old sailing ships and could see it in the dusk with the lightening flashing. Nice fairy tale. Valentine

[D Connolly]

She was 100 years too late... Wow, this is ghostly and I just love it. A phantom, waiting all those years to return to her lost love. What a wonderful story :)

[NY Duodu]

I'm sorry you had to lose her, Geraldine. A beautiful tale told, as usual! Can't wait to read more!