A Sailor Reads the Wind

 A Sailor Reads the Wind

A sailor reads what the wind writes…

   Cats paws crawl across the water,

   Boats at anchor swing into the wind,

   Tell tales - ribbons in the rigging - show the wind’s direction,

   The feel on his face as he turns, side to side, into the wind

   Until the sound of the wind is equal in both ears.

All of his senses feel the wind’s direction and energy. 

As the wind can be capricious, the sailor lives in the moment,

And trims the sails to best capture the wind’s motive power.