An illustration for my poem "The Rum Captain"

More about An illustration for my poem "The Rum Captain"

And tomorrow morning in one of the taverns of Elath
you won't even know who's in bed with you.
And you put ten talent coins in her palm,
she will smile back like from Botticelli's paintings

Your friends, the wolves of the sea, walked all night
and drank Shede, and caressed the port hetaerae...
But the Clotho calls to set off again -
because the ship does not tolerate women, but loves the wind...

You saw your dream on the tops
of the mountains and sailed after it, checking the compass on the star charts
Neither the pleas nor the crying
of the young maidens overboard far from the sands of Jakarta touched your heart...

One day you will still find your crazy paradise -
another sea at the very edge of the universe
And rum will burn your soul into ashes of longing and sadness
when you fall into the arms of salty foam...

And you will remember that morning in one of the trading ports,
that red-haired beast, as if from Botticelli's paintings
But you will realize too late that she was love,
and you were so close to your dream and cherished goal...

The fog is over Elat and there are ships in the bay,
drunken pirates caress tired lorettes...