Boots full of salt, hands cut by rope, <br />Three black storms and a month without hope, <br />He came from the deck with the dead-eyed sway, <br />Dragged by the wind to the end of the bay. <br /><br />Dockside lanterns, a crooked old bar, <br />Rain on the windows, one dim broken star, <br />He ordered ale just to soften the cold, <br />Then red bitter wine, then the rum taking hold. <br /><br />No one saw the turn in his eyes, <br />No one heard the old sea rise, <br />His head sank low, the candles spun, <br />And the waking world came undone. <br /><br />_Chorus_ <br />Oh, carry me over the black-torn foam, <br />To the maps with no names, to the waves like home, <br />Where mermaids sing through the cannon smoke, <br />And the night stays wild and the chains are broke. <br />If morning calls, let it call alone, <br />I was born at sea, I was carved in stone, <br />But if I wake where the lost men lie, <br />Tell me, where do I return, and why? <br /><br />Then came the dream like a fire in mist, <br />An ancient ship with a serpent’s twist, <br />His brothers were laughing with knives and gold, <br />Under torn red flags in the blue-green cold. <br /><br />They sailed past islands with teeth of jade, <br />Through moonlit reefs where the sirens played, <br />Past cities hanging in the starless air, <br />With silver towers and no despair. <br /><br />He saw strange queens with coral crowns, <br />Ghost-white harbors and upside-down towns, <br />Markets of thunder, cathedrals of glass, <br />Worlds that bloomed as the dark clouds passed. <br /><br />And there in the glow of impossible skies, <br />He saw his youth in his captain’s eyes, <br />All of the loves that the ocean stole, <br />All of the years that it swallowed whole. <br /><br />He whispered low to the endless blue, <br />“Don’t send me back to the life I knew, <br />If this is a lie, then let me drown <br />In the dreaming tide where no bells sound.” <br /><br />_Chorus_ <br />-//- <br /><br />Then a hand struck wood — <br />A voice cut through — <br />“Sir, wake up now, the night is through. <br />Tomorrow your ship leaves with the turning tide, <br />You need your feet, you need to ride.” <br /><br />He rose half-drunk in the empty glow, <br />Chairs all stacked and the embers low, <br />One tired waitress, one sour light, <br />One lonely bar at the edge of night. <br /><br />He looked at the door… <br />At the rain outside… <br />At the world that waited with its iron bite… <br />And under his breath, like a curse or prayer, <br />He said: <br />“Return? <br />But where?” <br /><br />Oh, carry me over the black-torn foam, <br />To the maps with no names, to the waves like home, <br />Where mermaids sing through the cannon smoke, <br />And the dead gods laugh and the mast ropes choke. <br />If morning calls, let it call in vain, <br />There’s nothing for me in the land again, <br />For I woke up dry, but my soul’s still gone — <br />Tell me, where do I return, when the world moved on? <br /><br />Boots full of salt, heart full of night, <br />A sailor still lost by the morning light, <br />Ship leaves at dawn, but his mind’s elsewhere, <br />Still chasing dream-winds through mythic air <br /><br />#SeaBallad #DrunkenFablesMusic #SailorSong #OceanSong #DarkSeaSong #TavernFolk #MythicFolk #SeaShantyStyle #FantasyBallad #GhostHarbor #BarroomFolk
