The old skill and patience had gone,
The judgment that had seen him through
So many times before; away too long,
Alone on the bridge,holding the ship
Together,crossing oceans and worlds
With only the force of his mind,
He had navigated by auspicious stars.
One last voyage,one last adventure-
He could not refuse,nor imagine
That a man could learn too much
Or sail too far.
Exhausted,disappointed and sick,
He scanned the seas for happy signs
Instead of these furies in his brain,
The crew now sullen and mutinous,
Longing to be ashore,in the arms
Of hospitable Hawaiian wahinis.
Tolerance, strained past endurance,
Turned to rage;his peaceful hand,
Attuned to the mapmaker’s tools,
Would take up weapons and attack
Any fool who dared defy him.
No god was he,but a god’s death
Was allotted,a sacrifice on the shore,
His blood given back to the waves
For all men’s sins and the fateful stars,
His failure the sum of all voyages.
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