The young lad sat in the old school room,
to him the place felt like a tomb,
he knew that he would be leaving soon.
He felt restless He got a job on the factory floor,
this just seemed to be a bore,
so he quit when he could take no more.
His wanderlust took over He packed his gear in an ancient grip,
and set out on an adventure trip,
to the Pool of London to join a ship.
And ran away to sea Ten men packed in a cabin tight,
snoring and breaking wind all night,
but he could cope with this all right.
He was on the move Soon they were landing on foreign shores,
where they took on cargo and fresh stores,
they drank and brawled and slept with whores.
Then off again to sea He saw the turtles and sharks and whale,
ships under steam and under sail,
felt both the roll of a force ten gale.
And the calm of an island lee He thought of lads he had left at school,
on the factory floor or playing pool,
knowing that they would be missing it all.
Glad he wasn't with them Through Suez or the Panama,
to Rio or to Zanzibar,
nowhere seemed to be too far.
To tie up at a quay He crossed the Great Australian Bight,
where gigantic waves all toped with white,
sparkling with phosphorescent light.
Came crashing over the foc'sle He watched lovely Polynesian girls,
diving naked in search of pearls,
the vision blurred as the water swirls.
Some vision He stood on deck when a seamen died,
watched the corpse slipped over the side,
sinking slowly beneath the tide.
Gone forever He sailed beneath the Golden Gate,
past Alcatraz where the convicts wait,
all hoping to dodge a grisly fate.
The electric chair He'd seen bars explode in a vicious fight,
or sometimes sat on a tropic night,
watching fireflies flash iridescent light.
Just relaxing He'd seen men crazy through too much dope,
sailed round the horn and the cape of hope,
been offered a woman for a bar of soap.
That's poverty He saw the St Lawrence packed with ice,
sailed to islands famed for spice,
lost two months pay on a roll of dice.
And won it all back later He travelled the globe both far and nigh,
from the Norway fjord to old Shanghai,
this was the life of sea and sky.
This was the life he loved He met with the hero and with the liar,
saw the sun go down like a ball of fire,
thought of this life he would never tire.
Things were changing. At last he went to his old home town,
he wasn't planning to settle down,
just looking to see who was still around.
That's where he met her He was living a life that was free and wild,
stopped dead in his tracks when a maiden smiled,
from that moment on he was beguiled.
He was smitten This girl was a very pretty thing,
with hair as black as the raven's wing;
soon he brought her a wedding ring.
Said farewell to the sea All the things he'd done and seen,
were real life not on a TV screen,
that's what a full life鈥檚 supposed to mean.
At last he felt settled Now he sits in his old arm chair,
knowing the pretty girl's still there,
both now having grey in their hair.
He looks at her lovingly His mind drifts back to his former life,
before he married his darling wife,
with whom he's shared both fun and strife.
Knowing he鈥檚 been lucky Looking back on the life he'd had,
now happily married, once "Jack the Lad",
there'd been good times, there'd been bad
None boring He could never have stuck to the same routine,
of years without a change of scene,
living like that would simply mean.
Life wasted Soon enough you find you're old,
you're bones will ache and you feel the cold,
you're memories are all you hold.
Be sure to get some So come on youngsters don't be shy,
don't let life simply pass you by,
life's adventures worth a try.
This is not a rehearsal Don't waste your time on your PC,
trying to get to level three,
there's a wonderful world out there to see.
Go, take a look | 
