ballade of the long return

[fledgist]

 

we do not claim this place as any home

yet are most happy when we see the door

it takes a lot of energy to roam

and we are glad to reach a well-known shore

caring so little of the total score

that we might wonder that we took such pains

and pulled so heavily on all those chains

that hurt so much and calloused our small hands

we know the song and know all the refrains

these are the best we find of all the lands

 

there's something honest about the sea-foam

upon this beach something we adore

about the way the waves gently comb

the weedy rocks with their soapy amour

we take a pleasure in the endless roar

it seems a kind relief from all the strains

a blest reward for our long hard campaigns

and better music than we hear from bands

it eases all the fevers in our brains

these are the best we find of all the lands

 

we won't find written in the longest tome

the secrets that we have been looking for

but on this strand in the fresh morning gloam

we are aware the world holds something more

than horrid monsters good folk should abhor

we turn from seascapes to harder terrains

and look on hills rising above the plains

our feet move slowly on the hard-packed sands

we cannot know how much to us remains

these are the best we find of all the lands

 

prince of your force not one of us complains

since such great power only a god attains

and we are subject to all your commands

let us rejoice that these are your domains

these are the best we find of all the lands