Ode to My Far-flung Youth

I ache for you, my treasured youth!
We used to sail across the sea,
Live among its ups and downs;
How I want you back, O’ Youth!


When we went on a cruise,
Judea, the ship I loved profuse,
Heading for Bankok in rapture,
In spite of fire, flood, and forces of Nature.
All I wanted to reach then was the East;
How you heartened me, my absent youth!


We sailed, pumped for our lives, and fought
With all our power to defeat the thought
That we could never reach the East.
We lost our ship and all we had,
That was what we cared the least.
Our strength of youth carried us all the way,
To the East, the good old East!


O’ Youth, now that you’ve gone away,
I crave for those times, the days,
That were the finest in my lifetime.
What a shame you can’t forever stay!


~ Yasaman – 2008 ~