The Ghost of Terror Bay - the complete story

I saw the sole survivor of a war he hadn't won

Cast in sorry shadow by a cold and distant sun

He hugged the frozen foremast of the ship to be his grave –

I turned to give him solitude; he whispered to me: "Stay."

I don't know how he told me, for we had no common tongue;

Yet soon I knew quite clearly of the demon he’d become:

A weather-worn spirit, a water-poisoned soul

Trapped within a broken mind, already in his hell.

An empire’s pride and prejudice had brought him over seas;

A fight against raw nature had brought him to his knees.

And he and all his pale companions slowly lost their lives

And now he envied those already buried in the ice.

Their voyage was to make them rich, immortal and revered

Their queen had blessed their mission, their people waved and cheered

As the great ship left the warmth of home, and sailed towards the snow

Bound in dark defiance for a place no one could go.

An uninvited passenger appeared among their crew:

A delirium of death that bade them do what none should do –

As madness danced among them, they knew they’d sealed their fate

When they took their brothers’ bodies, and butchered them, and ate.

He stopped his story, looked away, and slouched in silent tears;

A shadow of a person, surrendered to his fears.

“Come with me,” I told him, “My folk will keep you safe” –

Although in truth I knew that he did not have long to live.

There came a light upon his face, a memory of man

But all too soon, like summer, it flickered and was gone.

He fought to focus on me through the poison in his head;

And, pleading like a child would, “Don't save me,” he said.

We lived our winters, him and me, each of a different kind;

But in the spring I ventured back, to see what I might find.

The man, the ship, had vanished – I expected nothing less;

A mast that stretched for heaven was all the storms had left.

He haunts me still, that man who gambled more than he could lose –

A palloured ghost who died before his body let him loose. 

Rest you well, so I can rest; rest you well below –

May freezing waters drown your cries, and cleanse your chastened soul.