Boots full of salt, hands cut by rope,
Three black storms and a month without hope,
He came from the deck with the dead-eyed sway,
Dragged by the wind to the end of the bay.
Dockside lanterns, a crooked old bar,
Rain on the windows, one dim broken star,
He ordered ale just to soften the cold,
Then red bitter wine, then the rum taking hold.
No one saw the turn in his eyes,
No one heard the old sea rise,
His head sank low, the candles spun,
And the waking world came undone.
_Chorus_
Oh, carry me over the black-torn foam,
To the maps with no names, to the waves like home,
Where mermaids sing through the cannon smoke,
And the night stays wild and the chains are broke.
If morning calls, let it call alone,
I was born at sea, I was carved in stone,
But if I wake where the lost men lie,
Tell me, where do I return, and why?
Then came the dream like a fire in mist,
An ancient ship with a serpent’s twist,
His brothers were laughing with knives and gold,
Under torn red flags in the blue-green cold.
They sailed past islands with teeth of jade,
Through moonlit reefs where the sirens played,
Past cities hanging in the starless air,
With silver towers and no despair.
He saw strange queens with coral crowns,
Ghost-white harbors and upside-down towns,
Markets of thunder, cathedrals of glass,
Worlds that bloomed as the dark clouds passed.
And there in the glow of impossible skies,
He saw his youth in his captain’s eyes,
All of the loves that the ocean stole,
All of the years that it swallowed whole.
He whispered low to the endless blue,
“Don’t send me back to the life I knew,
If this is a lie, then let me drown
In the dreaming tide where no bells sound.”
_Chorus_
-//-
Then a hand struck wood —
A voice cut through —
“Sir, wake up now, the night is through.
Tomorrow your ship leaves with the turning tide,
You need your feet, you need to ride.”
He rose half-drunk in the empty glow,
Chairs all stacked and the embers low,
One tired waitress, one sour light,
One lonely bar at the edge of night.
He looked at the door…
At the rain outside…
At the world that waited with its iron bite…
And under his breath, like a curse or prayer,
He said:
“Return?
But where?”
Oh, carry me over the black-torn foam,
To the maps with no names, to the waves like home,
Where mermaids sing through the cannon smoke,
And the dead gods laugh and the mast ropes choke.
If morning calls, let it call in vain,
There’s nothing for me in the land again,
For I woke up dry, but my soul’s still gone —
Tell me, where do I return, when the world moved on?
Boots full of salt, heart full of night,
A sailor still lost by the morning light,
Ship leaves at dawn, but his mind’s elsewhere,
Still chasing dream-winds through mythic air
#SeaBallad #DrunkenFablesMusic #SailorSong #OceanSong #DarkSeaSong #TavernFolk #MythicFolk #SeaShantyStyle #FantasyBallad #GhostHarbor #BarroomFolk
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