Let us pull, pull the boat

Let us pull, pull the boat,
young man…
away from the waters
safe on to land
just the while perhaps till the morning
and pull, young one…take a deep breath and pull…
generations have worked and gone past exertion
and into a discovery of inner strength
and a sudden illumination perhaps
of the resilience within…
feel and pull - see, there’s the boat and you
and the forces and the ground
and there’s much within you…
there’s the mark of the effort
in your mind as footprints in the sand
pull, young one…safe to land – a little more
and a little more…
and we are come to completion, and you will see
within yourself
where the struggle, where the living
and all these days of our lives between earth
and the oceans begin and end…