The Boat
This world, it was a bit different to ours,
People didn’t go around on foot or in cars
Instead the ground was water — everything was blue
And your mode of transport depended on you.
One man, Baylie, to get around
Made boats from wood that he had found.
He started with one thinking that was enough
To live his life in, but it soon got rough
This boat could only move forwards and back
Side-to-side movement it did fully lack.
So he gathered more wood and made another boat
Which could turn left or right as it did float.
He tied one to the other and set off again
In the 4 directions he could move by then.
Things were fine — but not perfect, not quite
Turning around was tricky, especially at night
He’d go forward in one then jump to the second
Turn the 90 degrees (or as close as he reckoned)
Then go back once more, and again one more time
Before turning 180 and sailing on a new line.
One last boat — that’s all he would need
To live the life he wanted to lead
He set about making boat number three
Whose function was to turn 180 degree
He tied it to the others, like leading a horse
Jumping between them when changing course.
Life were good! As free as he thought it could ever be
Now he could move around quite easily.
However, one day, there was a great big storm
And things were not looking good by dawn
The boats had crashed into one another
Baylie was in shock, ‘Oh brother!’
Each boat had a hole in, they started to sink
He barely had enough time to think
‘How will I get around? I don’t want to die!’
Exclaimed a very frightened Baylie.
He hopped from boat to boat trying to save at least one
But it was useless, nothing could be done
Baylie looked up and thanked the sky
He’d had fun, it seemed like now was goodbye
But as the last piece of wood sunk down to its tip
Baylie decided to have a quick dip
He’d always wondered how the water would feel
And never brave enough to make those wonderings real
He thought, even if I drown and fall
I have nothing to lose now, nothing at all
He took a deep breath, this was the time
And dipped his toe in — it felt sublime!
Trusting his body slightly more
He threw himself in, without even an oar!
What a feeling! Baylie was in the sea
But more than that, breathing was he!
He was alive! He realized this wasn’t the end
He didn’t need boats to go around a bend
He could go anywhere now, up and down too
Doing whatever he wanted to do
