Of Rivals and Regards

Image Coutesy - Berkley's Classics Illustrated
Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The old man and his scar-burned night
Fearing an impending fiery fight,
His heart with venegence and,
Himself on galley... both alight!

The beast of many fathom deep and afar,
Fabled to have whithered many a spar,
It isn't a fickle to wrestle the fiend...
Besides, having your wounds ajar.

Loathsome as it was to him....
The old man knew it was no dim,
He had to use all his might and stealth,
Lest the beast turns into an omen of grim....

"Ahoy!" Yelled the old man, with all his might,
Poseidon thrashing the hull, left and right
At the helm, the seafarer, in his horde, imbued
A charge of vigor to disarm their fright.

Steering to the light of the Lucky Lucifer,
Fearing the might of the Robust Critter,
And then, a howl, a crash, a cry of war
And the crew scampering hither thither.

The tail swooshed to snap the prow...
And moved ahead for another blow.
In one swift motion, the twain shall meet
The beast and the mariners taut crossbow...

Alas! The beast proved to be too strong...
And the old man couldn't keep up for long...
The fiend, then coiled his body and took him,
As if he were a war souvenir, to take along.

Plunging down to seabed under many a wave
It proved it wasn't so much of a knave
With all due honours to his peer,
It buried him in his watery grave

Story became legend, legend became lore,
Old Man was remembered for bravery galore
But none recalled the fiend....
For the drop he added to the vast sea,
Nor for the deep veneration it bore!

Note - The verse draws its inspiration from quite a few of my favourites - Old man and The sea by Ernest Hemingway, Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Moby Dick by Herman Melville; and for all its worth, I would like to believe this to be a tribute to them all.