Gert Strydom - The long-legged bait

(After Dylan Thomas)

He saw her standing on the pier
watching his boat coming in
a long-legged girl
with her hair twirled
in a French plait
and seaward the brewing gale
was closing in with a black sky
and lightning bolts flashing brighter.

The sails billowed in the piercing wind
and he steered clear of some sandbanks
to the harbour mouth
on the surging swell
into the breakwater
and he could almost smell
the coming storm
while he anchored down.

She was still on the jetty
when stepped up on it
and looked stunning
as if walking right out of
a magazine
and she smiled at him
as if she had been waiting.

He was in love with the sea
and had sworn against any woman
keeping him from it
and nobody would stop him
from sailing when he needed to.