THE SARA SHAUN, NEWLYN: A NEW POEM FOR THE OLD YEAR...

Sara Shaun

High tide has righted

The weathered beam trawler’s hulk,

Alongside Newlyn’s eastern harbour arm,

In a futile attempt to appear seaworthy

And once again be part of the fleet,

Rather than a wasted, abandoned bulk

Awaiting scuttling or salvage, or other such harm…

Once ripe livery now blighted,

Blotched and mottled by years of rust,

Like blood on a Somme casualty’s arm;

Neglected paintwork, scorned and unseaworthy

Renders her shabby and indiscreet:

A rotten carcass, a decaying crust,

Its once proud beam now devoid of charm…

Thick, frayed ropes knotted,

Cruelly coiled, her stern to moor, 

Like a hostage tied down by the arms;

Deck littered with detritus, appearing seaworthy,

Nets and ropes scattered and replete;

Insistent weeds grow through gaps in the floor

And thus the chaos triggers eerie alarms…

The Sara Shaun’s name rusts like bleeding tears,

Its proud star and stripes now cursed by strife;

Ageing hull sags to reveal desolate fears,

As thick rings and chains cling to her, like they are preserving her life…  

Pete Ray

December 31st 2018

The ‘Sara Shaun’ was originally ‘Ebenezer’ in 1960, registered as A478, before Billy Stevenson renamed her in 1969.

Becoming PZ123, the ‘Sara Shaun’, after Billy’s daughter and nephew, the beam trawler worked out of Penzance and Newlyn, presumably.

She lies sadly in Newlyn’s harbour now, as the images show…