This Island
fair season too brief and current too swift
that happen on these shores
the tern fails to light upon perch
flurried afar to another
despite no respite for its beaten wings
but the gale will not have him there
from a distance, the heights emerging
from an encompassing blue appears amiable haven
for the long-suffering in need of solace
but closer approach reveals the jagged precipice
where angry torrent and rugged keep
wage everlasting war
their inscrutable and turbulent strife
portends no tenable harbor for
any erstwhile Argonaut
it is said, inland has treasure abundant.
if you land safely upon shore,
it is yours for the taking
riches the likes of which your heart
has yearned
that will forever keep you
alas, all who approach have
feared the surf's fury and hastened
away at its first frenzied vortex
confounded by volatile eddies,
resolve dispels
with the seething foam
and soon they're off
to safer claims
many a mariner's tale recounts
passing in the night ,
a distant lonesome howl
emanates from inland
as though
desperate for release
the very might
that expels the seeker
imprisons the sought
that happen on these shores
the tern fails to light upon perch
flurried afar to another
despite no respite for its beaten wings
but the gale will not have him there
from a distance, the heights emerging
from an encompassing blue appears amiable haven
for the long-suffering in need of solace
but closer approach reveals the jagged precipice
where angry torrent and rugged keep
wage everlasting war
their inscrutable and turbulent strife
portends no tenable harbor for
any erstwhile Argonaut
it is said, inland has treasure abundant.
if you land safely upon shore,
it is yours for the taking
riches the likes of which your heart
has yearned
that will forever keep you
alas, all who approach have
feared the surf's fury and hastened
away at its first frenzied vortex
confounded by volatile eddies,
resolve dispels
with the seething foam
and soon they're off
to safer claims
many a mariner's tale recounts
passing in the night ,
a distant lonesome howl
emanates from inland
as though
desperate for release
the very might
that expels the seeker
imprisons the sought
_Written by Scott Schoffstall
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