Poetic Tides Through Time

When As A Lad

         When as a lad, at break of day
         I watched the fishers sail away,
My thoughts, like flocking birds, would follow
Across he curving sky's blue hollow,
         And on and on -
         Into the very heart of dawn!

         For long I searched the world! Ah me!
         I searched the sky, I searched the sea.
With much of useless grief and rueing,
Those winged thoughts of mine pursuing -
         So dear were they,
         So lovely and so far away!

         I seek them still and always will
         Until my laggard heart is still,
And I am free to follow, follow,
Across the curving sky's blue hollow,
         Those thoughts too fleet
         For any save the soul's swift feet!

                             Isabel Ecclestone Mackay [1875-1928]

From: The Home Book of Verse by Burton Egbert Stevenson, 1917, pg.356

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Day 12 - "When As A Lad"  is another poem that reminds me of my brother, Rasputin , who now soars free and can fish to his heart's content. Ms. Mackay is a female Canadian writer who championed creative writing and journalism in Canada: https://www.poemhunter.com/isabel-ecclestone-mackay/biography/ . I like the imagery in this poem as she captures the essence of longing to go fishing - an outdoor activity my brother always loved.

I hope you enjoyed this romp through my poetry selections! (Days 3-12)

  Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.~~Robert Frost