1 JANUARY 1994, Page 22

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.

Jonathan Steffen