a/n: What became of all those souls lost at sea, with no Flying Dutchman to guide the way?

Set some time after Tia Dalma/Calypso fails to meet Davy Jones on his return after ten years away from land. Poem form inspired by Edgar Allan Poe

I own no aspect of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Written in response to a Black Pearl hallowe'en challenge, with thanks to Zaydee, and to Stutley Constable for the prompt.

This is dedicated to Nytd...the high and stormy seas just aren't the same without her.

The Loneliest Shore

The waves in the full moonlight glistened,

As a ship lay at rest near the shore;

Lay at rest near the loneliest shore.

And one soul, on the deck, stood and listened

To the rhythmical steep shingled roar;

To the waters' beguiling deep roar.

Here was one whom the Fates had imprisoned,

Who could step from the scarred decks no more.

By the Fates, and vows broken, imprisoned;

Free to leave the vast oceans no more.

~0~

He gazed at the moonlit surf breaking

And the stars in the winter's night sky;

The star-pricked and velvet night sky.

Since life, love and duty forsaking,

So many long years had passed by;

Such bitter long years had passed by.

Now his heart wasn't hers for the taking,

Now his heart could all passion deny;

Locked away, buried deep, not for taking;

Could all foolish false passion deny.

~0~

His tall ship, in the moonlight, was gleaming;

Every shadowed edge sharply defined;

Every contour black-edged and defined.

Silvered tendrils of moonlight were streaming

Over land he had long left behind;

Over forests and hills left behind.

Far at sea, pearl-dropped mist shimmered, seeming

To cloak shapes and figures entwined;

Each ripple, each crested wave seeming

To hold faceless phantoms, entwined.

~0~

As he stared, the sea haze thinned and lifted

From forms, silvered veils had concealed;

Frail forms, misted veils had concealed.

And he saw, as the waves swelled and shifted,

Pale features and faces revealed;

Gaunt, pale, haunted faces revealed.

And the trail of lost souls gently drifted,

Their wearisome, endless fate sealed;

Doomed souls, lost at sea, gently drifted,

Their aimless, uncertain fate sealed.

~0~

Any spark of emotion was fleeting,

A brief flare, dying down, swiftly lost;

Compassion had vanished, long lost.

For ten years he had lived for one meeting,

All souls lost at sea paid her cost;

A wandering, purposeless cost.

Adrift and forever repeating;

Their journey through oceans, storm tossed;

A journey forever repeating;

Unguided, unending, storm tossed.

~0~

From these souls in despair, spilled deep yearning

For home, peaceful rest at the last;

For a safe final harbour at last.

He'd no heart for regret, nor returning

To commitments discarded long past;

To the duty he'd honoured long past.

So he turned from the anguished souls, spurning

The role a sea goddess had cast;

He brushed aside sentiment, spurning

The spell his once-lover had cast.

~0~

A call to his crew, to make ready;

All thoughts of past passions must cease;

All thoughts and past memories cease.

His mind set on vengeance instead he

Must abandon all thoughts of release;

A century's voyage...no release.

Diving down to the depths, sure and steady;

Apart from all others; no peace.

Away from the shore; course held steady;

No hope of redemption; no peace.

~0~

Lost souls.

Endless oceans.

No peace.

~0~