A Ship of Fools

We sailed upon a ship of fools
no sails and rudder bent
lost sight of land and pondered
“I wonder where it went”
As we chased the rising sun
we begged it: “please slow down’
for we hadn’t figured out
how to turn the ship around.
Becalmed amid a rising gale
we battened down the hatches
unfurled our tattered drooping sail
wind blowing through its patches
so we grabbed the long boat oars
to paddle to the beach
a vain attempt at seamanship
as they were too short to reach.
And here we sit on mirror sea
rewriting all the rules
too late to change the fate of those
book passage on a ship of fools.


10/19/2021

A Noteworthy Ship Poetry Contest
Copyright © | Year Posted 2021

Poem

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Jones Avatar
November 12, 2021 at 6:47 PM
Congrats on your win!
Rodrigues Avatar
November 12, 2021 at 12:09 PM
Love it! My husband has a cartoonish painting of “Ship of Fools,” by Michael Bedard. There are a bunch of ducks, one with a guitar and beer cans in the water as the boat is about to be hit by a rogue wave. Congratulations!
Goldsmith Avatar
November 12, 2021 at 11:35 AM
Congratulations on your win. What a creative/cute~story/write. Have a blessed day with your win...............
Liguori Avatar
November 12, 2021 at 10:32 AM
John, what a clever and emotionally gripping poem. I love it. Congrats on your placement!
Alex Avatar
November 11, 2021 at 10:26 PM
Great writing. Congratulations!
Agustin Avatar
November 11, 2021 at 6:59 PM
Wow! Thanks for sharing this, expressing great wisdom in your awesome poetic style. God bless you.
Flood Avatar
November 11, 2021 at 2:19 PM
Congrats on deserved first place, John. Terry
Mcintosh Avatar
October 19, 2021 at 3:44 PM
Amazing write. So good. Love it. God bless you with a win. Love, Gina
Lawless Avatar
October 20, 2021 at 4:52 AM
Glad you enjoyed it Regina
Pigeon Tart Avatar
October 19, 2021 at 1:18 PM
Oh, this is good. My best to you in the contest’ xomo
Lawless Avatar
October 20, 2021 at 4:50 AM
Thanks Mo, it's more of an infamous ship so we'll see if it finds safe harbor. thanks for the visit.
Green Avatar
October 19, 2021 at 9:21 AM
Very cool. Sounds like the boat I've been traveling on. : )
Vaso Avatar
October 20, 2021 at 12:26 AM
I have no doubt that on a ship of fools you were on it!
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