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The Bar
—after Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar”
The sail is set, the breeze is strong.
I pray the crossing won’t take long.
My Pilot knows these waters well.
But time and tide no man can tell.
The time ashore has been fulfilled.
Frenetic searching soon be stilled.
The bar is long and full with flow.
Tho’ deep enough, no way to know.
To run aground along the way,
To suffer pain and long delay,
This is the fear that haunts the dark,
Upon the night that I embark.
In boundless deep I shall be free.
My Pilot’s face now clear to me.
.
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Jeff Shakespeare, PhD, is scientist and engineer with 35 patents. He has written the techno-thriller novel, Return to the Garden: Reclaiming the Garden of Eden (https://returntogardenofeden.com). His 13th great grandfather (Richard Shakespeare, 1490 – 1561) was William Shakespeare’s grandfather.
This poem speaks to me from a deeper “depth” intrinsic in the well-wrought wording which I choose to construe as navigating the vicissitudes of life and then at last laying eyes upon the “Master of the Sea.” I can feel this one in my heart and soul.
There seems to be a deeper meaning beneath the obvious in this fine poem about beginning a journey wracked with uncertainties and potential dangers. It could metaphorically be a physical journey or a spiritual journey, with a ‘guide’ that could be a parent, a friend, a partner.
Thanks for the read – and the reread – Jeff.
Paul, thank you so much for reading my poem. It is dedicated to my grandfather Walter Leon Shakespeare, who ran aground. He suffered 7 strokes in his mid 50’s and was unable to communicate through speech or understand speech. With help, he could shuffle from the bed to the chair and back. That was his life for 10 years. He suffered pain and fear every day. As a 7 year old boy at the time, this made a lasting impression on me and haunts me even now in my 70’s, which is reflected in this poem.