The Old Sea Captain

It was not a dark and stormy night and the 
captain was not on the deck of his ship.
He was at the old Spanish Inn at a table
by himself.  I asked him what he was eating.
He said, "Tuna on rye, coleslaw and a mug
of beer." He was furiously writing something
on a paper napkin.

"When it's not a dark and stormy night," I
asked, "and you're not on the deck of your
ship, do you often come to this old Spanish
Inn and sit at this table?"  'Though he was
busy eating his tuna on rye, coleslaw and
sipping his mug of beer, he replied that he
liked to sit here and write.

"And, what will you do when you retire?"
I asked.

"If it's not a dark and stormy night, and I'm
not on the deck of my ship, I'll probably
come to this old Spanish Inn and sit at this
table by myself and order tuna on rye, coleslaw
and a mug of beer.  Then I'll probably sit and
write for awhile. Here's one I wrote:

It was not a dark and stormy night, and I was
not on the deck of my ship. I had come to the
old Spanish Inn to sit by myself and write at
a little Spanish wooden table.  I had just 
ordered tuna on rye when the waitress asked
me what I was doing. I told her I was retiring
and had come to this inn to sit and write
poetry, repetends mostly.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025

Poem

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Seale Avatar
June 21, 2026 at 4:51 PM
I love it ... wonderfully done!
Harp Avatar
June 21, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Thank you Deborah. I really had fun with this one. Moon Harp
Toney Avatar
January 17, 2025 at 7:46 AM
“Repetends” — brilliant! A Fav poem. :-)
Harp Avatar
January 17, 2025 at 10:02 AM
I'm honored that you like my poems as a Fav! Thank you, Mark.
Oldham Avatar
January 16, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Hey M. Harp, this is pretty cool. Very original- nice!
Harp Avatar
January 16, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Thanks, John, I had fun with this one!
Rodrigues Avatar
January 15, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Love it!
Harp Avatar
January 15, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Wow, Kim, I just posted it two minutes ago. Thank you so much for appreciating it. It was fun to write once I got the idea.
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