Like pitied ships

we are afloat in perilous breaking waters

of which not one of us will see the coast

while silence lays heavy on the land

like a dead man's cloak...

 

Some few cry through to us like beacons

to forbid the wake of further disaster--

and, truly, no ship does shore to rock

for fear of fading light's travail;

 

Some strong of us will fail for silence' sake,

evenwhile some sailors continue

to stand the livings' mast

just out of liberty's earshot

while the stormy sound of the sea

rages recklessly onward.