is the title of the book
that lay in my friend's lap
the day they found him
his customary smile
so I was told
still on his face
this much-loved man
who only recently
had earned a captain's license
found a ship
to take around the Horn
or at least skipper
on the Columbia
downstream from Portland
I see him now on deck
hand on the rigging
a friend's macaw
perched on his shoulder
no simple sailor
more likely a pirate
the book
one of O'Brian's tales
of Captain Aubry
the title seems auspicious
for Jim's final voyage