Dear friend,
This is a poem inspired by the Northwest Pacific coastline. And of course, a boat shop by the bay, below a friendly gift shop, by a quaint dockyard lookout, by a mischievous plaque that inspires debate over old vs. young Earth theory, by windows that were used to peep through with a friend, by a bookstore, in a small harbor town. By the Bay.
"Nigel"
Somewhere out West there is a boat shop by the bay
and somewhere in my head it is docked in the harbor of my mind
It is where I steal away to
on quiet, heavy days
There's a boat shop by the bay, Just east of emeralds
where across the water, we look on goodwill
we spent a morning here
but I have not yet had my fill
There's a boat shop by the bay
way past my side of the Mississippi
by an unfamiliar coastline
home to water I knew well
There's a boat shop by the bay
where spruce and pine are taught
that through Pacific waters they soon will glide
after they learn to swim through the bay
There's a boat shop by the bay
that has befriended waves we once knew
waves you dived through
while I was shaken' cold
By a dock, by a bay, by cold waters, and waves I once knew
there's a boat shop
and a man called Nigel
It is here that he spends his days
he teaches young boats how to crawl through placid waters
where old ones learn to heal scars as Nigel has done
Nigel carves a story in each bend of wood
He told me his story true
you were there too
it was supposed to rain that day
at the boat shop by the bay
He told us of the strange land of Texas
that to his old England self seemed alien
he told us of the years he missed go by
of endless belly laughter
tight financial living
death and birth
slow dancing
boat building
he told us of the dreams that flow in the river of his mind
that he too chases them in vain through the hours
There's a boat shop by the bay
where Nigel send his boats away
where each boat reminds him of heaven on the beach with her
her, whose waves made way to other waters
unfamiliar waters
There's a boat shop by the bay
where Nigel stays
where he builds boats
on lovely, lovely days
Writings and waves 