The crew mulled around the deck. Many were wistful, watching the last light of the night fall into the sea. Some had tears carefully hidden as they streamed down their craggy faces. They thought on love's lost and lovers-yet-to-be. If there was a music, the Captain mused often on this, that could be captured from the heart of the sailor, he would be able to turn the earth upon it.
He walked along the deck and put an embracing clap on the back, a hearty smile to others. The light of this time of day covered all in its blue. It was a hue of introspection.
The ship slowed, the lap of the waves hypnotic. The night crew emerged from beneath the deck and stretched, whilst the day crew went below to din.
The Captain made his instruction and his first mate hovered around him. He clapped him on the shoulder and bid him below deck. The Captain preferred some time in the darkness on his own.
He stared out into the pitch, but sensed the sea. It was an undiscovered country, but he felt the world around him. The crew relied upon this. They would slow, but the sea ahead was open and wide.
There had been four stars that led him this far. One brighter than others, but definitely not the only one. The others were dim, but no less important in leading them here...to the very edges of the world. The stars brought them riches, and noteriety, but the Captain knew there was a star above all others. A star that would not lead him but others. He saw it on the far horizon. He had to stay still, the ship practically motionless, but it was there.
The namesake of the ship followed suit. It was for Mary, surely. The star above all stars...the Stella Maris. The Star of the Sea. She was the cloak of blue. She was the mother that loved her children sorely. His heart and body were refined by this, seemingly a fire. It was a discipline so that his soul remained intact. His love, his heart, was a singular shrine. He did not give it easily.
The crew would chide the Captain in foreign lands, where the women were exotic, they were beautiful, they would also be pliant. But the Captain had always refused this. 'It is the heart that guides me.' And it has.
He prayed silently. But the crew knew when he did so. The Stella Maris' lanterns warmed and came to life. It was not some magic trick, it was by faith. He prayed that his Lord take him in this state. The night was chill. The sea was not ever-safe. He prayed for a straight road ahead. The light left the sky and he prayed to his mother. He prayed for the star on the horizon. He gave his heart to it, commit his body. 'Stella Maris, pray make my road straight, unencumbered by evil, keep my mind clear and my love as a fire that burns purely.'
He left the deck. The sighing of the wood and the lapping of the waves on its bow was a hymnal. The men did their work in the night like monks, silent and complete.
No comments:
Post a Comment