The Sloop Woody Guthrie

(This poem was commissioned by Steven Feyl as part of an auction benefiting Common Ground Farm.)

The boat's bow breaks against each white-capped crest,

Like striking of an open chord on strings.

It stays its course, sustained, sails filled with breath,

As wind-swept splashing fragments bite and sting.

Each creak and groan, a lyric called out loud,

That sings of nature and humanity,

Of sunlight's shine upon the brave and proud,

Which sparks the surface of an endless sea.

The many hands on deck which work the wind,

Into a forward passage, to explore,

The inland islands where we live as kin,

And leave behind thin lines of distant shores.

To gaze on rivers fed by endless wells,

And depths, through clear reflection of ourselves.