All I Want

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely
   sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her
   by …

One person and a guiding star. That's all one needs. It is not all that he wants, but it is all that he needs. And in the driving wind, through the shielded eyes and ears, a soft voice, a woman's voice, is all that one needs to hear. I am leaving soon, and yet the disinterested waters do not abate or part. One steers the prow, fights the rudder, adjusts the sails with unflinching care. While he can. While he still can.

I must go down to the seas again, to the
   vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where
   the wind is like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing
   fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the
   long trick's over.

 

[Sea Fever, John Masefield