Stay the Course

For the Tabors

When I first set sail, these many years ago, the sky bluer then, and
waters calm, fair the lands beckoned with the call of "land ho", the
gull's sing-song cries, my soul's balm, in lands far from home I found
You my God, when ne'er a man would do me a deed good and it seemed a
cold world, cursed the place my feet trod as I spitefully paid them
back when I could, You found a rough man in me, and later a friend,
I took You out to catch fish in the deep, we talked long about God and
the harsh ways of men, and You led me like David, as sheep, it seems
so long ago that I had peace from these crowds, longer still time with
You alone, now I'm trapped on this boat being pounded by clouds,
and I'd just like some peace like I'd known, You wake and rebuke and
calm these huge waves, when I was doing all I could to just steer,
You jokingly chide me for how I behaved and say, "Stay the course,
your way's made clear," back to the blue and the calm of the sea,
better now the peace after the gale, and as we inhale the smell of the
storm cleansed breeze, I'm ready again to set sail.

Thom Jankowski