This beat up photo is of my brother, dad and me on Dad's sailboat La Boheme off Savannah, in 1982. My father learned to sail when he was almost 50 and fell in love with it. When he retired, our family and friends enjoyed many trips on the Intracoastal Waterway on La Boheme ("the gypsy"). This famous poem by John Masefield (1878-1967), British poet laureate from 1930 to 1967, reminds me of my father, who named his boat after his favorite opera. Dad died at 91 in Savannah in 2015.
Sea-Fever John Masefield
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
(Poem is in the public domain.)
freshmoonpie 