SHIP OF STONE

My wife's recently published book, Guernsey Legends, has reawakened in me an interest in tales of the supernatural.  Like my country of origin, Guernsey boasts numerous accounts of witchcraft, fairies and ghostly happenings.
The megalithic standing stone, La Longue Pierre, can be found about a mile inland from the coast, overlooking Rocquaine Bay in the south-west of the island.

 THE GRANITE SHIP

Full twelve feet high, La Longue Pierre,

a megalithic landmark stone,

weathered by time and ocean air,

stands, in its own green sea, alone.

A granite ship, imposing, tall,

with origin beyond recall, 

its ghostly shape casts off at night

with grim cadavers for its crew.

The primitive, long-dead shipwright

that placed it here has left no clue

as to its purpose, to what end ...

what matter now, one might contend.

On certain nights, old legend tells,

an eerie luminescence glows,

voices are heard, whistles and bells,

while figures move in serried rows

up the gangplank, along the rail.

The sleepless dead are setting sail.