The Sailor

 
I have given my heart to a sailor,
who needs not to need
and the only thing I’m afraid of
is where I’ll finally be.

Said I have given my heart to a sailor,
who needs not to need
and the one true thing I’m afraid of
is that it will be me.
 
Oh the evening nights they are tepid,
and my days go inching on
if I said I was not waiting
then you’d know that I was wrong
for my heart I gently placed it
in the pocket of his coat
and wherever he takes it,
with him it surely goes.
 
By the harbor I find myself standing
silent and alone,
and the evening stars they are messengers
I use to guide him home.
 
For I have given my heart to a sailor,
who need’s not to need
and the only thing I’m afraid of
is how long that it will be.
 
For the human skin it is fragile
and the soul a gaping hole
where passion recklessly bathes
and pain freely goes.
And I think of the invisible,
the future and his eyes,
and I think of my breast, my womb
and my thighs.
 
I have given my heart to a sailor
whose need is not to need
and the only thing I’m afraid of
is that it won’t be me,
and the one true thing I am afraid--- of
is that it will never be.

© Coleen T. Houlihan