On brave new boat
We started upon our journey,
Setting off from where had been home.
An unprivileged rambling farm
Where a twenty hour day of hardest toil
Broke our backs.
And for what?
A pittance, and not enough
To feed hungry mouths.
Bundling the bairns
And only taking basic requisites,
We ventured forth, full of hope.
Clambering aboard ship
To destination unknown,
We felt strangely optimistic and
Horizons seemed new and exciting.
With the unmapped scape to view,
We spent weeks of tortuous passage,
Sickness and boredom were relieved
By dreams of, not a fortune to be made,
But of happiness.
Weeks later, land appeared before us.
A vast unoccupied plot,
Stretching far and beyond our imaginations and
We made haste to gather ourselves.
Scenery not dissimilar to home, travelled ahead to meet us,
Beckoning with open arms.
Expectations were few,
Though eventually we seized a patch to call our own
And grew plentiful crops,
And plentiful offspring.
Happiness did prove to be our making, and
This new england would be our new home.