Wherever a peeled eye is turning,
The waves never end their play.
My friend, it's a long enough journey,
From kingdom of heart far away.
"My fellow, this watch I can no longer stand,
The fireman told to a buddy,
The fire in my ovens is near its end,
My safety valves going cruddy.
I'm barely standing, I'm worn out, fried;
Stale, stuffy, dead calm out there.
The heat passed a hundred and ten Fahrenheit,
The fire room's out of air."
When done throwing coal, he emptied a cup
Of bad water, desalinated,
Sweat, carbon black fell off his face as he supped,
He heard what the motorman stated;
"You shall not abandon your watch before bell,
The chief engineer's unhappy.
You can instead go to the surgeon and tell,
He will give a pill if unhealthy."
He climbed to the deck, steps already untight,
Eyes clouded, consciousness quitting,
Asudden, beheld incomparable light;
Fell down, heart gave up its beating.
Until the next day in the sick bay he stayed
In a sailor suit all night over.
A candle of wax in his hands he held straight,
Heat melted it lower and lower.
They came in the morning, stood round his head —
The fireman's buddies, the deck crew.
The farewell tribute they brought to the dead;
A furnace grate, rusty and burnt through.
They wrapped the deceased in a white cerement
And fastened the grate with a rope.
The chaplain approached, a quiet old man;
With tears a lot could not cope.
Like mirror, the ocean was still and serene,
All surges and currents relented.
The seniors appeared, the master came in
To join "Lux Perpetua" chanted.
The old lady's waiting for sonny in vain.
They'll tell her; she'll break into tears...
The wake from the stern keeps unwinding its skein
And, out of sight, disappears.
===
Stanza selection according to www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-wFYkGvX2c + "Until the next day..." inserted to restore the original five.