Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin - The Second Voyage lyrics

Odysseus rested on his oar, and saw The ruffled foreheads of the waves Crocodiling and mincing past; he rammed The oar between their jaws, and looked down In the simmering sea, where scribbles of weeds defined Uncertain depth, and the slim fishes progressed In fatal formation, and thought If there was a single Streak of decency in those waves now, they'd be ridged, Pocked and dented with the battering they'd had And we could name them as Adam named the beasts Saluting a fresh one with dismay, or a notorious one With admiration; they'd notice us pa**ing And rejoice at our destruction, but these Have less Character than sheep and need more patience. I know what I'll do he said, I'll park my ship in the crook of a long pier (And I'll take you with me, he said to the oar) I'll face the rising ground, and climb away From tidal waters, up river-beds Where the herons parcel out the miles of stream, Over the gaps in the hills, through warm Silent valleys, and when I meet a farmer Bold enough to look me in the eye With 'Where are you off to with that long Winnowing fan over your shoulder?' There I will stand still, And I'll plant you as a gatepost or a hitching-post And leave you for a tidemark. I can go back And organise my house then. But the profound Unfenced valleys of the ocean still held him; He had only the oar to make them keep their distance; The sea was still frying under the ship's side. He considered the water-lilies, and thought about fountains Spraying as wide as willows in empty squares; The sugarstick of water clattering into the kettle; The flat lakes bisecting the the rushes. He remembered spiders and frogs Housekeeping at the wayside in brown trickles floored with mud, Horsetroughs, the black can*l with pale swans at dark; His face grew damp with tears that tasted Like his own sweat or the insults of the sea.