The Cove

I sailed the yacht right into the cove

And away from the breaking storm,

I hadn’t intended staying there,

It was dark before the dawn,

The rain came down in a blinding sheet

And obscured the further shore,

I’d have turned around and sailed away

If I’d known what it held in store.

 

The sun came up on a greying sky

Though the rain had passed ahead,

Around the cove there were mountains,

I reefed in, and sounded the lead,

We sat in a bare three fathoms so

I gave the anchor the slip,

Then saw that over the further shore

Was an ancient sailing ship.

 

Its sails were hanging, tattered and torn

And the yards, they hung in shreds,

There wasn’t a movement there aboard

For the crew must all be dead,

It looked so desolate, by the shore

Like a ship that had died in pain,

But still afloat, as it must have once

Sailed proud on the Spanish Main.

 

Then further over beyond the ship

And spreading along the shore,

A line of dwellings in weathered oak

Like nothing I’d seen before,

And in the midst was a tavern with

A sign that swung in the breeze,

I thought I could see a painted skull

Half-hidden between the trees.

 

I dropped the dinghy and rowed to shore

And dragged it up on the beach,

Tied it up to an ancient log

Not even the tide could reach,

Then walked around to the settlement,

So still, with no-one about,

And hoped the Tavern was burning wood

For my clothes, to dry them out.

 

A girl appeared at the Tavern door

In a sort of fancy dress,

She wore a bonnet and apron too

But her face looked quite distressed,

‘Good sire,’ she muttered, ‘Please turn about

Go back the way that you came,

You don’t belong in a land of wrong

In a time of eternal shame.’

 

‘I’m wet,’ I said, ‘and I need to dry

So I beg an hour of your time,

A plate of vittals, a jug of beer

Some warmth, that isn’t a crime!’

‘You know not what you encounter here

If you’re wise, you’d better not know,

Three hundred years is a terrible time

To be fettered in chains, please go!’

 

I pushed right past and I walked right in

To the dingy, dim-lit bar,

Some sailors sat at the tables there

And stared, as if from afar,

Their clothes were tattered, their beards were grey

And their eyes were glassy and white,

While cobwebs covered their pewter mugs

That their hands had gripped so tight.

 

Their mouths, though moving, the only sound

Was the rasping croak of despair,

I couldn’t fathom a single word

That fell on that tainted air,

They came toward me as in a dream

And one fell down on his knees,

The maid said, ‘See what you’ve done to them,

I’ll ask you again, please leave!’

 

A chill ran suddenly down my back

And I turned and made for the door,

Ran right out to the narrow beach

I shouldn’t have left before,

I heard the sound of a cannon shot

The whiff of smoke from the ship,

And watched my yacht as it reared and sank

To its grave, three fathoms deep.

 

I turned in horror and saw the maid

As she shrivelled and aged in time,

‘I warned you sire, now you’ll never leave,

You’re caught in an ancient rime,

The crew took over our tiny town

In seventeen sixty three,

But you’d be free of the spell that bound

If you’d only listened to me.’

 

I sit depressed at a writing desk

And sign my name with a quill,

Ten years have passed since that fateful day

An eternity left to fill.

The Captain thinks he can sail away

To roam on the Spanish Main,

But the ship, it rots more, day by day

And I’ll never get home again!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Tate Morgan]

This is absolutely fantastic. The rhythm and rhyme flows like a waterfall. The story told with a cadence akin to the ticking clock that it embodies. Makes you wonder bout the souls that have come and gone over the centuries.How many ended on the bottom? Surly their fate not much better than a stint in the southern ocean on St Georges island.Men have always gone to sea.Many to never be seen again.I would like to think they ended their days on a deserted island rather than with Poseidon.

[Dean Kuch®]

As always, your story was very well told (and eerily chilling!), your meter and construction were executed flawlessly. It is always an immense joy to come across your poems. I only wonder what you could do with a short story format?
Nicely done David!

[Jazique]

Open a dictionary and go to words like 'wow', 'creative' and 'awesome' and you'll find this piece. I mean honestly you make it difficult for me to critize anything; its too good. I just love poems with a story and this one was so interesting I mean at first I think you're losing me but, you pull me in until the very end when "And sign my name with a quill, Ten years have passied since that fateful day an eternity left to fill." Truly just creative.

[Coyote Poetry]

I enjoyed this story. I read Dante's tales many times in my life. Each time finding something I missed. I like the description of location and the mistake of entering. A lesson here. When waitress tell you. Don't go in. Don't. I like the complete tale. Thank you for sharing the outstanding story.
Coyote

[Silhouette]

Wow, I'm amazed by the flow of your words and rhymes. Just positively breathtaking. Well done =)

[Valentine]

I never expected what came next in almost every line..this is a fantastic tale, one of your best..and the last line adds a large amount of sadness as he accepts what his life will now be..never to go home again..Loved this one David..Kathie

[TL Boehm]

Ah a twist on the mariners tale for sure. Those enchanted places we dream of...hold snares. "I'll never get home again." Chilling. One of my favorite poems is the "Wreck of the Hesperus" and this one - is in line with that poem. Wonderful

[quinfinn]

this reminded me of some pirate stories i heard , as a child, growing up. my family lived on the water a goodly portion of our lives and many tales were told by the elders. you have spun a magnificent one here indeed! well met, David!

[carol burgess romance]

What an adventure..what a great peice of work..so hauntingly beautiful.....I live near the sea and don't think I will ever look at the ships graveyards the same way ever again

[Leslie Philibert]

I read David`s work on many sites,he is one of the most popular poets on the internet, and a good, technically accomplished poet..

[Dayran]

A great sailor's tale of the sea and of the cargo still afloat on flotsam. Perhaps what's hardest for a sailor is to stay put in one place. That can sometimes feel like being marooned. But you know the sea and you know what it brings up from its depths with the greatest of surprises. It the meantime enjoy that jug of beer and the conversation of travelers. A poem like the salty breath of the sea.