Tugs

I wrote a manifest, a boatswain's list;
a log of all the promises I've made
to no one but myself; I raise a fist
defiantly to life. But I'm afraid
of weighing anchor; getting underway;
of challenging Poseidon under sail;
of running with a squall at break of day
while praying that the rudder doesn't fail.

Yet I will use the navigator's art
to plot a course through islands of despair
and I will trust the compass of my heart
to choose a heading caution wouldn't dare.

The promise of adventure yet to be...
will tug the weary Sailor out to sea.