Poem: "Dreams of War and Peace"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem is from the June 4, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from
rosieknight. It also fills the #19 Sidereal slot in the
rainbowfic Moonlight list. It has been sponsored by
technoshaman. This poem belongs to the Torn World project.

"Dreams of War and Peace"

Ships sail the seas,
rocking on the saltwater waves,
traveling on through the darkness.

The helmsman keeps sidereal time,
tracking the positions of stars and ship and shore,
schedule always in mind.

Warsailors sleep in their hammocks,
swinging in the safe dark hold of the ship,
snoring the hours away.

The gentle motion is one
that many of them recall from childhood,
cradled in the shell of a harpoon snail.

They dream of war and peace,
the endless conflict between
sea monsters and landlubbers.

It is the warsailors who make the difference,
protecting the precious cargo in the hold,
tipping the scale toward safety.

In the morning they roll out of their hammocks,
leaving the webbing for the nightwatch about to turn in,
as the warsailors take their places on the daylit deck.

* * *

Notes:

If you're new to Torn World, start here.

You can read more about warsailors, harpoon snails, and other sea monsters.