Eugene Lee-Hamilton, 'The Raft'

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The Raft

He shook his head. " No, no, " he said, " a man
Need neither be insane nor wholly bad
Who does that kind of thing. I say again,
That there are minutes in the lives of all
When Satan seems to pass across the heart
Just as a shadow flits across the path;
And if it happen that we be possessed
Of power in such minutes, woe betide
Ourselves and others. Bring not yet the lamp,
But let the twilight have its way; the fire
Is light enough; I have a tale to tell,
And care not, as I tell it, to be watched.
My children, you shall hear what made me leave,
Some fifty years ago, my native land,
And seek this colony, then barely formed.
I speak at last; for I am old, so old
That human justice, even if it cared,
Could scarce o'ertake me on the final brink.
But human justice cares not; I am safe.
All has been long forgotten in that land
Whose very language I have long unlearned.
I would to God I could forget as well
A desperate shriek, which ever and anon
Rings in my ears.

( Now listen. I was born )

by Eugene Lee-Hamilton