‘Ol Sailor Groom

There once was a sailor named Ryan Groom,
With salt in his laugh and no trace of gloom.
His boots kissed docks from June to June,
Beneath a wide and burnished moon.

He loved the sea, he loved the wind,
He loved the way the tides rescind
All borders drawn by timid men—
He’d sail beyond them, time and again.

In Jamaica, where the hills rise green
Like velvet thrown on a sapphire sheen,
He stepped ashore in Montego Bay,
Let the reggae roll and the steel drums play.

He danced with fishermen at dusk’s first sigh,
With a mango sun in a purple sky,
And kissed a boy with laughing eyes
By lantern light and fireflies.

The harbor smelled of rum and lime,
Of stories older than measured time.
Ryan sang with a voice so free
Even the pelicans paused at sea.

Then north he steered through silver foam
Toward the islands coral-grown—
The scattered jewels, the Bahamas’ grace,
Where turquoise water finds its place.

In Nassau’s hum and Abaco’s breeze,
He climbed the rigging with practiced ease.
His hair blew wild, his heart beat sure—
The ocean made him brave and pure.

He found a diver bold and bright
Who matched his stride and shared his light;
They traced the reefs in bright array
Where parrotfish flashed in neon play.

They swam through caverns blue and deep,
Where ancient currents coil and sleep,
And surfaced laughing, salt and sun
Entwined like two tides meeting one.

For Ryan knew the sea’s own creed:
To love is not a thing to hide or plead.
Like waves that rise and waves that fall,
The heart must answer when it calls.

So let the charts be rolled away,
Let compass needles drift astray—
For Groom will sail where horizons gleam,
Chasing wind and chasing dream.

And somewhere still, in island air,
You’ll hear his laughter bright and rare—
A sailor bold, by moonlight groomed,
Forever free—
Ryan Groom.

Folk, Country, bluegrass