Silently, I pray each and every night
to the stars lighting up the dark sky that I will never see or feel your shadow, hear you incoming soft steps. You may be the enemy however you are a human being. My job is to guard the sleeping soldiers, protect them so they wake in the morning. My troop is relying on me for this and I will ensure this does happen. As you creep around our camp, trying to deceive me, I think you must have a family that you would like to embrace again. It is the same in our tired barracks. The troops have wives and children they wish to see and laugh with. My eyes will find your shadow and guarantee they will see their family. Sadly, I have taken life, as I assume, my night crawler, that you have too. We both have a duty. It is not personal. I have a duty that takes courage, feeling that you have the same. You are a person that is forced to be here. Remember as you sneak, so am I. I am the Sentinel that will not let you through. December 1, 2020 ©Andrew Scott - Just A Maritime Boy 2020
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Though no one saw me,
I was there through every moment. The blaze that took over London in the mid seventeenth century. Three days of an inferno, taking way homes and lives, leaving a burnt path of embers. I was there as the wind that carried the flame from the King's Baker. Not one felt myself as the blower of the fire. When the shot was fired, killing Franz Ferdinand causing England to declare was on Germany the bullet was guided for the world conflict, the first great war, over four years, piles of bodies, brothers and sisters, by my invisible hand. That peaceful day in 1945 in the small place of Hiroshima, destroyed by the first big bomb. Leaving radiation intertwined with the breathing air causing melting heat that was felt for decades after. I was the unseen creator of the ultimate destroyer. People believe it is all random twisted fates of destruction. I am never seen by the scared eyes. Never in the shadows. My faces are in plain view This Dark Figure is always missed. November 24, 2020 ©Andrew Scott - Just A Maritime Boy 2020 For the crew, I have to steer us through this.
The nor’easter came on so suddenly. Clear, blue skies to grey violence without a clear warning. Day started with checking lobster traps. A great haul for the day. Smiles booming all around. Sailing home would be effortless. Now the crew are below, can feel their worry and cries with every rough wave. We were not prepared for this. Trying to see through the rain. Thinking of our families, the ones sitting at home, staring out their windows hoping to see their spouses coming through the door. Up here all I see is darkness from the pellets of rain. Direction is purely by instinct in hopes of finding land, to dock like any other day. Tense and scared, heart is pumping in my skin. Know I do not have a say in our fates. It is either the ghost from the water that will guide or the unforgiving Nor’easter’s Hands. September 22, 2020 ©Andrew Scott – Just A Maritime Boy 2020 |