Ballad of the Second Boat

They sent the first boat out at dawn;it made the pier by noon.They sent the second out at threebeneath a daylight moon.

My mother laid the extra platefor fourteen hundred nights,and never once said what she meant,and never dimmed the lights.

The harbour keeps two bells: one ringsfor fog, and one for home.I have heard the fog bell all my life.I know that bell alone.

And still, when weather turns and takesthe colour from the bay,I set a plate I do not needand do not clear away.