chapter 13 eleven and seven
Primed by my pain, I was bleeding with tears,
As blobs of my agony gouted the deck,
Rescinding my courage, reviving my fears,
Abandoned intelligence left me a wreck.
Beyond and before me, around and behind,
Laboured sailors whose efforts were better defined-
Ended vainglory by error designed.
Oh to rewind an indifferent day!
Faith was mislaid and I weltered dismay.
Painfully dragging myself from the rail,
Aching and gasping, in battle to fail-
I needed some healing, escaping the pain,
Nautical combat attempted in vain.
Fury of weakness; destruction of pride,
Unusual valour? I'd seen it denied...
Loss of integrity must I abide.
Exciting the battle of sailors and fiend,
Xenophobia ailed me; in horror I gleaned,
Perplexed as the crew paid a terrible cost,
Eleven men down; seven totally lost.
Relinquishing grip on my consciousness then,
I faded away from the grappling men,
Enslaved by my loss of reality's grip,
Notwithstanding my place on the wallowing ship...
Challenges failed; a failure descried-
Eleven men down- seven over the side.
As blobs of my agony gouted the deck,
Rescinding my courage, reviving my fears,
Abandoned intelligence left me a wreck.
Beyond and before me, around and behind,
Laboured sailors whose efforts were better defined-
Ended vainglory by error designed.
Oh to rewind an indifferent day!
Faith was mislaid and I weltered dismay.
Painfully dragging myself from the rail,
Aching and gasping, in battle to fail-
I needed some healing, escaping the pain,
Nautical combat attempted in vain.
Fury of weakness; destruction of pride,
Unusual valour? I'd seen it denied...
Loss of integrity must I abide.
Exciting the battle of sailors and fiend,
Xenophobia ailed me; in horror I gleaned,
Perplexed as the crew paid a terrible cost,
Eleven men down; seven totally lost.
Relinquishing grip on my consciousness then,
I faded away from the grappling men,
Enslaved by my loss of reality's grip,
Notwithstanding my place on the wallowing ship...
Challenges failed; a failure descried-
Eleven men down- seven over the side.