The Fisherman

The Fisherman

Once a fisherman would not agree


With warnings not to sail the sea.


In ignorance he left the shore,


Then he found he had no oars.

The storm took shape with steady speed.


The sea showed little care or heed.


He tried to scream, but all in vain;


The light he saw, and out he came.

As cold as ice, his life became.


"What is this? And who's to blame?"


As days went by, he came to see


A raft was where he came to be.

The Raft of Man upon the tide


And there he found two by his side.


The lonely child no more would be,

For man and wife smiled tenderly.

Years went by; of age he came.


For every fault, they bore the blame.


Until the point of no return:
"

I have to jump. I want to learn."

He left the raft with courage strong,


To seek the place where he belonged.


He waved farewell with steady hand


And swam toward the promised land.

With nothing but the distant sky,


He swam alone, prepared to die.


At break of day his strength was gone,


Yet still he pressed and struggled on.

Then through the swell a tree trunk came;

He climbed aboard, no more the same.

A carving worn by wind and spray

Read: “In the end, we all should pray.”

The days went by and fish he ate.


And trusted in the hand of fate.


And when at last he found his way,


Another trunk came by one day.

He tied it to the first he found;


More joy in life was gathered round.


He found a carving waiting there.


The carving said: "You need to share."

One morning, the horizon gave a gift.


A trunk in sight, a girl adrift.

She drifted slowly on the tide.


"I'm here! I'm here!" the young man cried.

He helped the girl to climb aboard.


The trunk he tied up with some cord.


Another carving came in view


It simply said: "Be true."

Together now they sailed away


Until they found a quiet bay.


"Oh, land!" the man and woman cried,


As gentle waves became their guide.

The shore was white as winter snow.


The forest rich with fruits that grow.


In shared contentment, hand in hand,


They knew they'd reached the Promised Land.

Years went by and old they grew.


And in time they thought of something new.

"What if all the water and the sea was life?"


"And the raft was conscience," said the wife.


How else should anyone explain


The voice that speaks inside our brain?

So if you trust the voice inside,


It will always be your faithful guide.

One day the man said, "To sea I have to go."


The woman warned, "A storm will surely blow."


The man stood proud, but felt the fear.


Yet would not listen to his dear.

In ignorance he left the shore.


And then he found he had no oars.


The storm took shape with steady speed.


The boat was tossed beyond his lead.

He tried to scream, but all in vain.


The light he saw, and out he came.

-- Tobias Lindlöf --