Passage

We mortals cross the ocean of the world, each in his own average cabin of a life. -Robert Browning

 
And yes, this ship set sail
before you even knew your name,

had opened your new eyes and seen the sky
or grasped its ocean vastness with the sea.

Before the trip was booked, your route was fixed;
none of your best-laid plans could see ahead

to where the captain’s compass pointed next,
or where the slow meandering might speed

and summon sight of land – always a tease —
never the solid shore you hoped to claim.

And yes, some share a cabin for a spell –
never a guarantee who’ll make it last

or who’ll despair, alone or paired.

In either case, no turning back or warranties,

all of us sailing west at different speeds,
follow the same sun by other names,

stare at the same sea, escape in dreams
that someone not of sea will lift His sight

and ferry our average souls beyond the night.

ABOUT THIS POEM: This was inspired by the haunting quote by Robert Browning. I imagined our lives as ‘solitary’ journeys on the ocean of life, searching for greater meaning and a noble destination.