SC14, LISTING: A NEW POEM ABOUT NEWLYN, CORNWALL...

SC14, Listing…

Lurching to port, desperately seeking

The old harbour’s wall, yet listing,

SC14’s hulk clung to life

In its abject apathy,

The propeller draped by seaweed,

like a slick, damp scarf

Worn against a biting wind’s strife:

But still the vessel lured my sympathy…

Incongruous yellow above a thick white stripe,

Stained pale peach but over former blue,

Its deep reddish bottom was faded and scraped

And it was that which a barnacle clung to…

Riveted to the starboard side was a patch,

Like a blackened armour plate,

As ropes and chains littered myriad stones

And the boat surely lingered, awaiting its fate…

Faltering to port, helplessly reaching

The old Newlyn wall, yet resting,

SC14’s bulk pressed upon quay’s mire

In its wretched quest;

The winch was hauling nought, like a futile panning for gold,

Torn at by a deathly wind’s ire:

But still the vessel secured my interest…

Pete Ray

March 2018 

SC14, a seemingly forsaken fishing boat in Newlyn’s old harbour, next to the blue Ros Na Riogh.

On the cabin’s entrance one could read CIFCA004…

Fascinated me…