Our ship sails on the open sea
Towards a promised shore
Yet the sailors have left star-watching
and the ship drifts off course
as they battle for the steering wheel.
So intent are they on becoming Captain
that they do not see
the leaks that have sprung
in the sides of the hull,
filling it with heavy seawater.
What glory is there
in being the Captain
of a sinking ship, lost at sea,
I do not know.
Seawater engulfs one and all
in its universal embrace
when a ship slips under the surface.
Is it not yet time to mend the ship
and turn our faces to the sky;
to seek the Pole-star
and bring the ship
back on course?
February 2008, Mainz