The Sea Rolls and Rules

The Sea Rolls and Rules In a ragged sky of slate-grey clouds Gulls brave the bite of Winter gales Mariners sit pensive in their storm-tossed ships As they cut through the waves with billowed sails. In the sanctity of the ocean's deep The most ancient things of this world do sleep. In the crushing cold dark of the muddy seafloor Lie eternity's treasures, to rise nevermore. Far above, life goes on in the swell of the tide As the Mother of All tosses her children about She sings them to sleep on her bosom wide As they swim or shudder, gambol or shout. The rhythm of life beneath the waves Flows on and on in this womb and grave; This whole beauteous Earth sprang from the stormy seas, And from the deep dark below, all her children flee.