I Stand Relieved

 

I Stand Relieved

 

What? Oh yes, you might suppose

that standing beneath the compass rose

having spent a Middle Watch putting

ten of starboard on, sir,

come to midships, midships it is,

that I have no spur

to prick. But, I care not to care

and therefore might be somewhat put out -

not that they’re moving tankers

but that they had to be anchored

there at all. I mean, what’s the point?

Personally - after they’d cased the joint,

wielded secateurs for a bit of dead-heading –

I dodged a few projectiles

lobbed in my general direction,

reported the pretty ribbons bow the sky,

watched my workload spike

and the workshy fly –

it seems flowers bloomed again and spreading

sprawling across the rockeries.

And anyone with a brain to scratch

might wonder why those boffins lifted latches

on cry havoc – instead of inventing the tool

with which a man might try.

What? Oh yes, you might suppose

you relieve me, sir, and might believe

I stand relieved.