The Ferryman’s Sovereign
By Manuel V. Derida, 1950
Reach not to your pocket for I want a sovereign and no more,
With a breath so cold announced the Ferryman.
Don’t need your name for a sovereign is the price of my Oar,
With a breath so cold announced the Ferryman.
Many a men and women have tried to cross this path before,
With a breath so cold announced the Ferryman.
They cried and wailed, “Oh, Ferryman take us to safety’s shore”
With a breath so cold announced the Ferryman.
Away from my boat or you shall taste my oar’s sway…away,
With a breath so cold announced the Ferryman.
Weep not and curse not what you have in life always yearned for,
With a breath so cold announced the Ferryman.
Favoring the yearning of the flesh you’ve neglected that of the soul,
With a breath so cold announced the Ferryman.
Man laments and bemoans the blows of fate only when he is forlorn,
With a breath so cold announced the Ferryman.
Alas, neither I, and nor you, know what the gods for us have in store,
With a breath so cold announced the Ferryman.
Without a sovereign and no more in this place you’ll toil evermore,
With a breath so old announced the Ferryman.
Art by Sardine a.k.a Mike V. Derderian (2014).
Brick in the Head 