The speaker sets out on a journey, and the opening line makes it sound almost like a legend: going by water to "my father's country." That phrase suggests a return to ancestral ground, though the poem doesn't say where or why. What we do get is a title, "Getaway," which hints that the trip is also an escape.
The details are playful and a little odd. The crew is "buttery as lard," soft, greasy, not exactly built for hard sailing. The ship is made of paper, so it feels flimsy, like a child's toy or a page of writing. That fits the last line, where the ship carries both the speaker and "my tired work." Work doesn't stay behind; it comes along, weary too.
The mood is wry and light, but there's tiredness underneath. It reads like someone half-joking about how fragile an escape can be, while still wanting to go.