Boats To Sail Away Upon He joined the Navy He’d grown up next to the lake It seemed natural He wanted to sail the world Took a train to Chicago A bus to Oklahoma He somehow made it To San Diego and saw The surf wasn’t like the lake Still he wanted to sail the Seven seas and projected His dreams on me When I won another Boy Scout Merit badge he said: I could be a Naval officer I should go to Annapolis Be an man in a starched Suit saluted all day Dad, they don’t need artists In the Navy, sure, I could Sit on deck and paint Watercolors all day, I’d never run out of water. Forget that saluting. But I will tell you something: My boats won’t be thick steel Painted battleship grey I will ride a ship with blue sails And sit by a boat basin And watch sailboats all day And if you want I’ll write a story about you falling out of a boat. It will make you smile. (for my dad, on his birthday)