Tacking in the Wind
My life is changing course again
I’m tacking in the wind
The storm has blown out and gone
I’m looking for dry land
To find the safest harbour
I might just need a hand
The winds of change are blowing
Cruel and icy, fast and low
I’m tacking ‘cos that’s what I do
There’s nowhere I want to go
The wind that blew me on has gone
I need to find a way
I’m tacking in still waters
Got lost and gone astray
In Yorkshire where I come from
A child of my own kind
When we were lost and listless
They’d tell us to breathe deeply
Relax and just unwind
I need to ‘tak a deep breath
Like when I was a child
And ‘tak some wind inside me
To generate my own storm
Sail on to waters wild
If I don’t keep on moving
Cutting through the waves
I’ll tack alone forever
Just drifting to my grave.
PJ.
© 2018
“Tacking in the Wind” is a poignant exploration of navigating life after profound loss. The poem uses sailing metaphors to describe the speaker’s struggle to find direction after losing his beloved wife. Like a sailboat tacking against contrary winds, the narrator acknowledges his need to keep moving forward despite having “nowhere I want to go”. The Yorkshire roots are beautifully woven in through references to taking deep breaths (“tak a deep breath”) – a childhood remedy for feeling lost and listless.
About “The Thistle & The Rose”
This deeply personal collection comes from Peter Watson, a Yorkshire poet who crafted these verses in the aftermath of losing his wife Patricia in 2017. The book serves as both a love letter and a memoir, dedicated to preserving memories for his son Callum and grandson Oswald. Through poems ranging from playful courtship memories to raw grief, Watson charts the course of a 47-year love story that began in a school playground and ended far too soon.
