The Sunshine Boys Poem by Steven B Taylor

Passages

The Sunshine Boys
' A Landlubber's Lament'

Opus 73

Oh, how he yearned for the sunshine boys.
And, the days he was young and free.
When he was captivated by the joy,
Of shipping off to sea.

The ocean's pull was the chance to see
Those things he never saw.
To be those things, he shouldn't be;
To laugh at the land and the law.

A carefree time, with the sunshine dwelt
On decks against the waves.
He stared into the face of hell,
And laughed, and said. 'I'm brave.'

No time in life was he so free,
Yet never more restricted.
As fighter, drinker, lover, he
Could have his fate predicted.

Those times were spent with the sunshine boys,
Who ventured far from home;
Who greatest efforts did employ,
To conquer wind and foam.

The sunshine boys found a challenge there,
At sea, to become men.
To know, nothing on this earth compares,
With the ocean's hold on them.

And, now that he has landed here,
He longs for the sunshine, then,
And the chance to overcome his fears,
By sailing off again.

This poem is dedicated to all those 'sunshine boys'*, who became men, by 'Going down to the sea in ships.'
*Sunshine boys are deck hands on a carrier, who take rests between launching planes by stretching out on the deck in the sunshine and catching short naps.
Steven B. Taylor

November 25,1997