I am the Wind that Stirs the Thoughts of Sails

I am the wind that stirs the thoughts of sails
And sends the bright flags fluttering in your heart;
I am the gull that’s blown on last year’s gales
To slice the present and the past apart;
I am the trace of brine upon the breeze,
The whiff of wanderlust upon the air;
I am the sigh of undiscovered seas,
The whisper of a wilderness somewhere;
I am the map you never need to read,
The lodestar shining through a summer’s day;
I am the engine registering your speed,
The compass twitching with you as you stray;
I am the fate no freeborn heart disdains:
I am the road that runs within your veins.
By Jonathan Steffen.
I am the Wind that Stirs the Thoughts of Sails was first published in The Spectator, 1 January 1994
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