Ghost Ship

By Joe Djordjevski

As the sun sinks like an anchor below
the ocean shines with the moon’s reflection.
The horizon becomes a faint reddish glow
And dark waves roll in from every direction.

Gliding through the tides alone
is a ghost ship on the black sea.
Its destination is unknown.
It appears to be sailing aimlessly.

Sailors spot it passing by before nightfall
when the rest of the ships head for land.
But the ghost ship does not anchor nor stall
as she sails for something no soul understands.

They say the ghost ship has no direction at all
as it endlessly floats on.
That it simply sails through calm and squall
for a destination now gone.

But as the sunsets and the ghost ship passes by
it chases something in the distance.
It sails toward the light in the sky
and it moves forth in the wind with persistence.

Toward the horizon the ghost ship sails.
To reach the sun before it sinks below the surface.
And although every night the darkness prevails
the ghost ship does have a purpose:

To catch the sunset it sails on
to where the sky is forever warm.
Even at night when the sun is gone
still it sails through horse-wind and storm.

Its rudders and masts forever chase a goal
that it may never reach the source.
But until she sinks or lands a shoal
It will never change its course.

I am a ghost ship sailing for the sun
before it slips away into night.
And I will never consider my chase to be done
as long as the horizon is in sight.

Some say that I sail aimlessly
a ghost ship pale and moonlit.
But the sun is always in front of me
and one day I am going to catch it.