I NEVER WANTED THIS

I wanted to run away to sea
climb rigging, sing shanties, dance
hornpipes, swab the deck and raise
my eyes to the horizon, blue
disappearing into blue – gripped
only by simple, fleshly fears: pirates,
swords and cannon-balls; the swelling
ocean storms which whip the words
out of your mouth; falling from crow’s nest;
sharks circling lazily, patient for blood;
the ever-present possibility of drifting off
the edges of the world…