- for Pasi Sahlberg -
They searched for an empty continent
they could people from coast to coast.
If sun-burnished chaps were already there…
well, they’d bring a braver host.
A peril of waters lay before them,
and they pondered, as they crossed,
to manifest such a destiny,
what would be the actual cost?
And how much of what they’d brought with them
would be irretrievably lost?
Back at home was staged a gripping tale
of some boats that were “tempest tossed.”
Years later they gathered at tables
to enjoy their annual toast.
But an absent presence haunted them,
like some spectral Roanoke ghost.
Yes, they’d searched and they’d found and they’d found so much,
and this became their boast.
But the one thing they never, ever found
was the thing that mattered most.
[Previous: The Appointment]
[Next: Tongue Gone Numb]