Success
is no more emails
Not one
throughout the day
No beeps
and no vibrations
to clutter up
the quay
My sails are up
the winds are fair
distractions
far abeam
No G.P.S.
or radar
To chart
— this sailor’s dream
(Annapolis To Bermuda: August, 2005)
Fool Them Once — Fool Them Twice
Oh Bernie, Bernie
as crooked
thou art
Thy wife
more dishonest
filling up thy cart
A noble pair
thoust do
protest
Within
thy harvest
and monied chest
To hide among
a lost
enclave
With fortunes
promise
most illy made
Behind thy mask
corruption
flames
Thy hoax
to bear
— eternal shame
(The New Room: July, 2026)
I’d like to share this as a challenge to any who would like to try, as it can be read as a RHYME in five ways: #1 - left-to-right, top-to-bottom; #2 - right-to-left, bottom-to-top; #3 - left-to-right, bottom-to-top; #4 - alternating right-to-left, then left-to-right from top-down; #5 - alternating the same way from bottom-up.
____________________________
!abeam there float
bright shiny stars
gleam and bloat
Venus with Mars
dancing forever
they are eternal
entrancing, clever
brilliant and vernal
night is yawning
voided and dark
bright day dawning
flames to spark
soon close eyes
sleep to scheme
moon with skies
blink and dream!
( This is a lullaby inspired by Eugene Field’s “Wynken, Blynken and Nod” )
Amos made a promise, took a sip of wine,
Poured his heart out and he bowed his head.
Pledged to come back safely as Evangeline
Shed a tear for every word he said.
Polished as the buttons on his uniform,
Amos bowed to her and kissed her hand.
Gone to face the fury of the raging storm.
Hoped his lady love would understand.
Troopship cuts the water on a sea of glass.
Lookout taken with a homesick dream,
Focused on a vision of some cherry lass,
While a periscope lies dead abeam.
Walking down the corridor by candlelight
In a mansion full of silent rooms.
Loiters in her husband’s study every night
Where the presence of his absence looms.
Soldier comes one morning with a telegram
And a story of a ship gone down.
Sadly tips his hat and says, “I’m sorry, ma’am.
What a shame it is when brave men drown.”
Courage, honor, loyalty and songs of war,
Verse and chapter writ in martyrs’ blood;
Second-hand excuses from the time before,
Grand illusions worth their weight in mud.
Lovely feedback, makes me glow,
Taking time to let me know
That my efforts hit the mark
And even caused some smiles to spark.
A job well done feels great inside
But emails, texts and calls provide
An extra boost that’s guaranteed
To let me know some folks agreed.
Of course, some feedback might report
The opposite of true support
Although, for now, I’m all abeam,
Ensconced within a thumbs-up dream.
The Bermuda Race
Don't sail the Rum Line lads
To that beautiful isle is quite bad.
600 miles heading just South South East
Is not the way to tame the beast.
A straight course sailors say:
"You can't win that way."
Newport to "The Onion Patch" the saying goes
Is a milk run but depends how the wind blows.
The Gulf Stream is always pushing you back.
It is a humbling current and that's a fact.
If caught in its many meanders
You won't be first to smell the June oleanders
The water temp will tell when in that stream
Try and keep the current hard abeam.
If you are there squalls you may see
Driving rain, lightning.high winds, and seas
Mind the helm and listen to the crew
Your navigator knows what to do.
It is a joy to see Saint David's Light
Then you know his courses were right.
But beware the Devi'ls Isles rocks and shoals
Before you cross the finish and reached your goal.
If you would but listen closely
You could hear her whisper his name.
This was their beach not long ago,
But it could never be the same.
It was just on that horizon -
The same point that she can still see.
He was so close to coming home
To a love that now cannot be.
A wedding dress hangs in silence.
The bouquet has wilted to brown.
Invitations lay on her desk
Untouched since his trawler went down.
The day was bright the sea was calm
'Til a rogue wave struck him abeam.
The boat was splintered - all was lost,
Perhaps just time for one faint scream.
He died in one hundred fathoms.
A lost soul that was never found.
She hears his laughter in each wave,
And thanks the Lord for that sound.
She may lose her mind one calm day.
If so it will be by the sea -
Or she may fall in love again
If Davey Jones will set her free.
11-5-18
For contest Tell Me A Story 2 for Brenda Chiri
Poem for photograph number 2, Woman On The Beach
* This is a lullaby, and it is written completely in reverse, meaning not only can the lines be read in reverse, but the words and lines can be read in reverse, and in all three ways it will rhyme. (#1 - left-to-right, top-to-bottom; #2 - right-to-left, bottom-to-top; #3 - left-to-right, bottom-to-top). I hope you enjoy it! *
_____________________________________________________________
!abeam there float
bright shiny stars
gleam and bloat
Venus with Mars
dancing forever
they are eternal
entrancing, clever
brilliant and vernal
night is yawning
voided and dark
bright day dawning
flames to spark
soon close eyes
sleep to scheme
moon with skies
blink and dream!
~ 1st Place ~ in the "Reversible Poem" Poetry Contest, Jesse Rowe, Judge & Sponsor.
This is a modified Tritina to meet the requirements of the contest:Ten Lines Five Words.
We were pushing our luck
Thinking we could make Adelaide
The wind was hard abeam
Making a full hellish scream
New course need be struck
Fast decision must be made
For my ship the SeaMaid
Hard to port doth seem
The right thing now struck
Luck, make Adelaide hard abeam
12-26-17
The wind beneath my wings was a fart
And excuse me is all I could say;
Flying here where worlds apart
As the good folk looked on in dismay.
For they had expected much more,
Loftier goals had been set for me;
But in the end where meant to soar,
I'm about as high as I can be.
And for those who looked at the updraft,
Thinking more height I could attain;
You know I look abeam and abaft
And am content in these clouds to remain.
For here with the wind beneath my wings,
In amongst these clouds to dart;
I know there are much higher things
But still amused I am by a fart.
"Are you Quill?," She asked abeam.
"Yes, of course! - mostly - when the Muselle`
visits oft'n'r upon, as my wont!
"Well, here!, this will surely help at the Magic...
And IT, Voila!, was in hand, a thrust-unmistakable!
Blunt, bulbous & sleek, a slick Recife,
this Turquoise and Silver stick.
Is IT "Blue?" Is IT "Black?"
Pray, "Blue-Black!?" Wow! -
A Sole instrument for Playing in the Indigene,
Soul Colors of the Earth! - I nearly crack to Self.
Swirled-embedded, b'neath the haute Baekelight-Crystal
like a LavaLamp-Entemp. IT's messages of ambidexsrait-
Threads, Mola thru splayed fingers. O' Charitable Mage
You have brought to Life!... I Write Handcrafted!
H.e.m.
5.1.MMvii.
Solus
Looking aloft
Envisioned dream
Dawn at Sea
Tides crash abeam
Seas mystery
Attempts to bend
Ready bow
Sails to mend
Backstay about
Apparent wind
A close reach
Clew torn within
Navigated course
Needed cleat
No buoy insight
Captain feeling beat
One sits astern
Another alee
Corrupted chain plate
Desires to flee
Thoughts come about
Center of effort tried
Eye of the wind
Heel another tide
Weather the storm
Splice, I say
Tell-tales in line
Not falling off today
A painter, grommet
Ship shape, spreaders sway
Searching, missing hanks
Love of the seas headway
Staysail
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