Sailing

a poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

With the help of an old chest
a few planks, hammer and nails
we built us a boat on the attic.
I demanded to be her captain
but brother said no that was his job
because he was older than me.
He sent me down into the galley
peeling potatoes which is a job for sissies.
Edwin, my friend, bit bigger than me,
got to be a chief engineer
and we sailed the seas till mother came home and saw
that we had ruined her antique chest.
Brother got his ears warmed
Edwin sent home.
And I?
Well I was only the cook.