These Oceans Poem by Philip Dodd

I strayed into long ago,
somewhere in the east,
yes, the Orient.
Time moved slow,
like the wings of a cormorant.
I made my way to a stall
in a market square,
shiny stones drew me there.
The old jeweller said:
'Did you know,
this earth sits on a sapphire,
and by its glow the sky is blue? '
I told him of that I was unaware,
but what he said made sense of all of it.
Who I once was I never knew.
To where I was, I had lost the clue.
Among these turning wheels,
the truth we strain to know.
The cold chain we grasp,
to fly or fall when we let go.
There was I,
a sailor not long stepped ashore.
A strange harbour to explore,
haven for ships with scarlet sails.
I stayed in an inn,
slept without dream.
When I woke,
I felt I had the key to a paradise.
These oceans I would voyage,
accept what was shown to me,
till I knew I had found
what I was looking for,
that which my eyes alone would ever see.