The Daisy Bree

 

I stood back on the quay and watched them

Raise the anchor, trim the sail,

Haul the spinnaker up to catch

The gusting breeze once under way;

They slipped out past the Harbour gates

And with them went my heart, my dreams,

As bitter fortune made it plain

That life is never all it seems.

 

My friend from childhood, Roger Cain,

My childhood sweetheart, Alice Drew,

They'd tied the knot an hour before

In secrecy, I never knew!

I'd thought that we had time enough

To sort it out, she'd made it plain:

'You either marry me, or else...'

She'd patted down the counterpane.

 

I didn't see her then for days,

She'd said that she was overdue,

I mulled it over in my mind

Not knowing what to say, or do.

I should have said I'd marry her,

I should have said a lot of things,

It's only through our own mistakes

We find out what misfortune brings!

 

I'd thought that I could trust a friend,

That love was steadfast, strong and true,

I'd thought that I could make amends

Not knowing what she'd think or do.

She'd thought more of her name, it seemed,

The fear of scandal muted love,

And Roger, he just took his chance,

Proposed, and she just thought, 'Enough!'

 

We'd sailed as boys out in the bay,

We'd dreamed of owning ketches, yachts,

When Roger's father died, he left

Him everything, and that was lots!

He bought an old-time sailing yacht

With work to do, the 'Daisy Bree',

And left me on the shore while he

Went gallivanting out to sea.

 

We'd grown apart, for well I knew

That he had lit a torch for her,

My Alice Drew, who thought it sweet

But I... I felt my anger stir!

He showed her over the 'Daisy Bree',

She helped him clean the galley there,

I should have nipped it in the bud,

Or at the least, been more aware!

 

Now they had gone, a honeymoon,

To sail away to Hobart Town,

I wandered off the quay in tears,

I drank until my feelings drowned.

I heard they'd got there safely, then

Were heading out to sail due west,

And that was all! Three weeks went by,

The 'Daisy Bree' was listed - 'Lost!'

 

My mind was in a torment, bleeding

Blamed myself each day, anew,

She came into my dreams, just pleading,

'Rescue me!' said Alice Drew.

Thinking of the seed she'd carried,

Of the child I'd never see,

I cursed the name of Roger Cain

For bringing on this misery.

 

The Search and Rescue people flew

A thousand miles of ocean squared,

But not a sign of the 'Daisy Bree'

Was seen, or so I overheard.

'They may have been blown way off course,'

I heard a captain tell his mate,

'Down in Antarctic waters there,

I can't think of a crueler fate!'

 

I flew the fifth week down to Hobart,

Phantoms roamed my tired mind,

Alice now was lean and drawn,

With sunken eyes, she looked quite blind.

Every time I slept she came

And glared at me across the sea,

Icebergs floated by in dreams

As she croaked: 'Find the Daisy Bree!'

 

I went to rent a yacht myself,

One I could manage on my own,

I didn't want to raise alarms

My destination, then unknown!

I sailed out in the dead of night

And headed south, so I could see

If I could put to bed at night

All hope, or find the 'Daisy Bree'.

 

For days I sailed, the seas grew high

The 'Aspen' wallowed in each trough,

I rugged up well and stayed awake

Invigored by the coffee pot.

I started seeing floating icebergs

Broken from some distant shore,

My eyes grew weaker by the day...

I wondered what I'd come here for?

 

Another week went by, and I

Had turned to rest my weary head

When out to starboard, there I saw

A sight that filled my soul with dread!

A yacht with sails that blew in tatters,

Stripped and iced, it wallowed free,

Straining through a 'scope, I saw

The legend there, the 'Daisy Bree'.

 

Waiting 'til the wind had dropped

I pulled along the side to check,

Lashed her fast to 'Aspen's' side

Then leapt aboard the ice bound deck.

Kicked the cabin door to break

The ice that sealed it from the sea,

Down the steps, into the cabin,

Down inside the 'Daisy Bree'.

 

Roger lay there in the passage

Stripped and cold and very dead,

One arm missing from the shoulder,

One great gash across his head.

Alice sat both fat and wizened

Blind, but wary in the dark,

'Listen child,' she whispered, 'Harken!'

Then picked up her knife and fork!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Norma J. Jessee]

When we take things for granted especially love, it can slip away fast. And it makes the cup of tea even more bitter when it is a trusted friend who takes advantage of the situation. I've heard that "all's fair in love and war", but that depends on which side you are speaking from.
A very, very intriging tale that held my attention throughout the telling. I wasn't quite expecting the ending to have your signature twist, but there it was and I might say it was a fit ending for the tale, even if it was a mite morbid so to speak. No-one knows what they may have to do in order to perserve their life in this case two lives.
It can be looked at in a couple of ways, (one) dark humor.... by saying the dude got what was coming to him. (two) survival....... There have been many instances where people have chosen to eat other humans in order to survive themselves. It brings to mind two well known cases, the wagon train; I think they called it the Donner Party or expidition. And the plane crash in the Andes mountains. There have also been other instances such as the great famine in China and Egypt and several other places.
As Orlando said, " it aroused feelings both for and against the players ".
Beautifully told, highly excuted tale that gives us something to think about as to what we ourselves may have to do in order to survive. We may say we would never do something like this, but that remains to be seen.......
Perfect David.

[R J Askew]

'A yacht with sails the blew in tatters' is the line for me. I was so taken with the story that I cld see the damn thing! It's a true poem, it's amusing and shocking, with a moral agenda, or at least an insight into life's quirkiness, and certainly drew me along. I wasn't taken with the end. But I was very taken with the obsessive need to go and find out, to go in search of the sea. And earlier in the poem I thought the love triangle was well handled. It aroused feelings for and against the players. And the ending is in keeping with the traditions of the ballad I concede. And I do like the dark wit of it. I also like the way you show how an old form works perfectly well in a modern context with the air-sea rescue etc. I note you vary from the usual 8,6,8,6 etc format but the 8s work perfectly well. I was also highly amused by the word 'Enough!' for a disconnected reason (on application). Above all I enjoyed reading a proper poem that has been well excuted with great skill and passion for the form.