Widow’s Walk – Richard Thompson

Six in the morning she’s up there
Up on the Widow’s Walk
Pacing the deck, eyes seaward
Up on the Widow’s Walk

Maybe it’s today, she says
I’ll let the fancy tempt me
She searches for a sign of a ship
But the sea is cold and empty

Lost at sea, they said he was
Never found a trace
Still, she scans the horizon
Still, her footsteps pace

She fell for his puppy eyes
His face chapped and battered
Most days he was rude or drunk
But charming when it mattered

But he’s never coming back to her
He’s never coming back
Always a thimble of hope, she says
But he’s never coming back

The sea was the best place for him
He couldn’t make her less trouble
A short fuse and a hammer fist
He could reduce a bar to rubble
In the back of her mind she wonders
Does he have another life?
Shanghai, a new passport
Three kids and a wife?

Six in the morning she’s up there
Up on the Widow’s Walk
Pacing the deck, eyes seaward
Up on the Widow’s Walk