The beauty luring men aboard the ship
In time’s a wreck, unsightly and ignored.
The handsome playboy charming all aboard,
While juggling five affairs without a slip,
Succumbs to age, and cannot book a trip
Except the one across the Styx’ grim ford.
Cabana couples, bronzed on isles they’ve toured,
All yield to rest-home pallor, and the grippe.
One restless traveler turns his thought-worn brow
Away from cruise-line glitz to seek a berth
In pews that line a craft with skyward prow
That splits the blue above the tourists’ earth:
A pilgrim sets brave sails for distant shores
Aglow with mansions found in no brochures.
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