Old Boats

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <p class="poemtitle"><SPAN name="OLD_BOATS" id="OLD_BOATS"></SPAN>OLD BOATS</p> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I saw the old sea captain in his city daughter's house,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shaved till his chin was pink, and brushed till his hair was flat,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">In a broadcloth suit and varnished boots and a collar up to his ears.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">(I'd seen him last with a slicker on and a tied down oilskin hat.)</span><br/> <br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">And it happened that I went home last June, and saw in Mallory's yard</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">The old red dory that sprung a leak a couple of years ago,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Dragged out of good salt water and braced to stand in the grass</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">And be filled with dirt from stem to stern, where posies and such could grow.</span><br/> <br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Painted to beat the band, with vines strung over the sides</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">And red geraniums in the bow,&mdash;a boat that was built for water</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Made into a flower garden. I looked, but I didn't laugh,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">For I thought of the old sea captain living in town with his daughter.</span><br/> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />