Ole Man Fisherman

From the distance the misty rain appears before me, the roaring wind is deafening to my ears, and salty seas burn my eyes as tears run down my face.

Fishing boats approached the harbor.
They are fighting for their space to unload their hard-earned catch from many weeks at sea.
The overwhelming odor of diesel lingered in the air behind me.
Surprisingly the chattering of those engines to me is quite compforting.

The memory of the large white whale, the smooth elegant observant seals
and the excited playful dolphins are still very fresh on my mind.
The best thing about working at sea is the scenery, it`s never the same as we cruise toward our homeland.

The sight of the rickety old piers, the large rusty incredibly noisy broken down trucks
and cranes coated in red mud that sticks like glue.
The familiar sounds of the island's everyday businesses soon jerk me back to reality.

Out of the corner of my eye, I`m catching a glimpse of the extremely gorgeous white beaches that most only dream about.

Arriving in the bay finally, time to unload this hard-earned catch of crays,
hopefully, we will get a good price for them, some nice big ones this time.
It has taken three long weeks to haul them in.

I am trying hard to focus on the job helping to unload this ship but, my mind is elsewhere.

Yep!

I`m craving for that home-cooked meal that I have so longed for, I can taste the tender lamb and delicious baked pudding.
The excitement is more than my body can bare at this very moment.
The lads have great pleasure in reminding me about the nice cold beer
that will be waiting for us all at the local pub.

Ooh Yeah!

The tingling sensation when it touches my lips.
I can almost feel it now, the thought of that will keep me going until this wretched task is done.

Mind you I have a dear wife at home waiting anxiously for my safe return.
It`s hard on a fisherman's partner not knowing if we will ever return from the deadly waters.
Their days are drawn out with worry and fear.
The seas we venture into are not for every man or their partners.

She will have lots of questions my wife and many jobs for me to do...

Resting is never an option before the old ship turns around for yet another hard-tiring journey to its next destination.
These young men aren`t accustomed to the hard work
and long hours battling the tides and swells with little and sometimes no results.

It is a struggle to keep a good ship running, so many things can go wrong in such a short amount of time.
It`s important to keep the crew well and happy when possible.
There`s no time to dwell on the past.

Time is Money!