The vessels grand in colors
Their pinions fair on such a day;
The traveler, weary from the sojourn,
Who merely seeks to find the way

The babe at mother's breast
The leering grin of vapid age,
The gentle soul at rest
The vile in twisted rage

All of these I've witnessed
Like some watcher of a dream,
While every soul I've kissed
Becomes one flowing stream

To carry on, the spirit there,
To join with fate, and then declare;
“I have lived and died:
And all therein was fair!"

For who shall judge me now
Who has not seized their day?
For whence the greater crime?
To live, or live at bay?

The wheel is ever turning
And life a wondrous gift,
A treasure to the free,
A journey to the swift

I have been a gypsies wife,
And I was once a pirates woman,
I've danced upon the plank
Beheld the sharks a comin'

And I will stand and tell ye,
Nay, I will declare:
I have lived and died,
And all therein was fair!

Author: Kathleen MacLintock

All Rights Reserved 09/11/05