The Wanting Ships

All my wants are ships set sail

For Middle Earth, Hogwarts, and Narnia.
Having read the books

I'm determined now to find them:

The lands of ancient lore and magic to wield,
And the lion who'll answer my questions.

Before long, one ship sinks in a storm,
Another is raided by pirates,
One sprung a leak and must moor far away,
And another has crashed on the rocks.
Only one of my ships reaches dry land,
And it is Japan, not worlds of my fancy.

Can you blame me for grieving
When all my wants are snuffed out,
And dreams dashed on rocks?
My ships were bound to fail
For I've sought out fake worlds
Instead of this charted one where I live.

But all is not lost, no, nor dreams unfulfilled
If I nurture a taste for the orient,
And study the repair of broken vessels,
And learn from experienced captains
How to do battle with pirates.
I may yet join the ranks of explorers
And discover what there is to find
In this world I didn't invent or dream up.

There the lands are real and thus unfamiliar.
And there magic can't be produced from a wand
And the lion won't answer instantaneously
What can only be found out when I confess
I am not master of my fate nor captain of my soul.