Best Ahoy Poems
'Twas a dark and stormy night on that dark and stormy night!
HMS Blunderbuss plied the billowing seas just off the Isle of Wight!
Able Seaman Steer manned the helm when dead ahead he saw the light!
He woke the snoozing Officer of the Deck to apprise him of their plight!
Captain Ironbottom (who happened to be in the 'head') was duly alerted!
He dashed to the bridge in his drawers to ensure that disaster was averted!
"By jove!" he cried, "Her Majesty's ships turn aside for no one, I say!"
He grabbed the radio, "Ahoy there! Turn east 15 degrees! Out of my way!"
From out of the ozone a voice retorted, "Suggest you turn west 15 degrees!
I'll not change course for anyone, so heed my warning if you please!"
"This is Captain Ironbottom of the HMS Blunderbuss!" he thundered back!
"I know the rules of the road! Turn now or I'll see you hung from the rack!"
Able Seaman Steers' eyes grew as large as saucers knowing not what to do!
Communication between the captain and the mysterious light was turning blue!
As the distance narrowed between them, neither would give a nautical mile!
The white-knuckled Officer of the Deck was turning pale with a sickly smile!
"This is Captain Ironbottom again! Are you challenging Her Majesty's might?"
"Yes sir" was the reply, "You see, this is the light house on the Isle of Wight!"
Today the mighty HMS Blunderbuss rusts upon the Isle of Wight's rocky shoal.
Captain Ironbottom faded into oblivion due to the folly of his last patrol!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
An aging old sea captain named Hook,
Was a bloodthirsty pirate and a crook.
He leaned as he stood,
On his left leg of wood,
And from only his right eye he did look.
< Haiku
sea's tranquility
bestows harmonic balance
amidst tides rising
Limerick
aye ye matey walking its own plank
let not ye other take thee to bank
raise thy anchors set sail
give heeve hoe to those failed
find ye other sailor's who's yet sank
Couplet
shivery timbers captain bow is about to break
toss overboard it's ye baggage holding thee dam weight
Entry For
{Destroyer { Poet's
Divorce Club
Haiku /Limerick/Couplet Contest
G.L. All
I thought for this'n I be a dodger,
But the Cap'n told me to hoist the Jolly Roger.
Skull 'n Bones on Black in the air,
Ye know, matey, that I be thar.
Me peg leg be a clompin' so loud,
Ye be sure to find me, even in a crowd.
With a patch o'er one eye 'n me parrot too,
Ye be sure that we be lookin' fer you!
Cutlalsses out 'n daggers in our teeth,
Ropes from the yardarms, hangin' b'neath.
If'n ye see me thar up on the deck,
Ye can be sure I be wantin' to put a rope 'round yor neck.
We be after the spoils of a bounteous sea,
That means RANSOM to you...GOLD for me!
For we be sellin' you to someone for gold,
'Else ye be not gettin' very old.
'N if we be needin' any more,
We be a takin' all them trinkets in ye ship's store.
Our Cap'n orders the ship turn about,
We be after yorn, without a doubt.
The Cap'n be a mean'un ye ought to know,
He be a blood spiller from long ago.
That's why he be the Cap'n ye see,
'N the crew to his word, we all step lively.
I seen him cut a man in two,
Cut out his heart, 'n eat his liver too!
So I be doin' what he tells me I should,
'Else I could become the Capn's food.
Any man of our crew ye would not want to see,
They be all cutthroats, just like me
The crew is lively that's for shor,
Especially when we get ashore.
We take no baths and get no scrub,
We be downin' all the ale, left in the pub.
They may look dirty and smell to thee,
But they be pleasin' 'n have a sweet aroma to me.
Oh, the pirate's life is one o' glory,
'S long 's ye be 'round to tell yer story.
'N one thing more I be tellin' you,
A'for I go 'n get a brew.
You can tell one's a pirate if'n ye want to seek,
Their talk is filled with contractives and other speak.
They eat only meat 'n fish fer no Gar,
"N at the end of their words, they al'ays say RRRRRRRRRRR!
Ahoy, matey!
Welcome aboard me ship,
Me would have met ye at the airport
But, I've got meself a broken hip.
Me crew, they be drunk
Me parrot's got the sh!ts,
Me wooden leg got caught on a rusty nail
Me woman's got a hairy lip.
I'm sorry to have to tell ye matey
But, ye have to swab the deck,
Me crew have all fallen asleep
Me deckhand has a broken neck.
We all be sore losers
Trying to find me gold,
It's buried out there somewhere
Me'd find it, if me didn't have this cold.
Copyright Cynthia Jones
July.11/2006
On 4-15-12
Sinking of the Titanic
Atlantic Ocean
[Written as a sort of sea shanty style thing-a-me-Bob. Tin Fish = Torpedo]
When the tin fish hit me starboard I was thrown into the sea
I sank down to the ocean bed for all eternity
I met a man called Davy Jones who handed me a key
I opened up his locker just to see what I might see
But then I sensed my captain who came drifting up to me
He gazed upon the locker with some curiosity
I looked into the locker and was quite surprised to see
A brandy for my captain and another one for me
We drank the brandy down and then my captain looked at me
He said do you feel squiffy and I said, ‘Decidedly’
I sprouted extra legs and then I hollered frantically
It seems that Davy Jones has made an octopus of me
But then I saw a mermaid and she winked suggestively
Strangely she was right there where the captain used to be
And then it dawned upon me that the mermaid once was he
The captain sure was pretty now, but too much man for me
He still had all his ‘tackle’ which was pointing straight at me
I quickly crossed my legs - all eight - but then I couldn’t flee
The captains mast was raised and he intended it for me
I tried to swim for freedom as I screamed hysterically
And then I felt my shoulder being shaken frantically
The naval doctor said I wasn't drowning in the sea
The medic blamed my diet and he made me this decree
Don’t have cheese for supper or much later than your tea
we all want to fill life with fun and joy
while some get it others remain bereft
why don’t we all win this journey, ahoy?
maybe each one is not equally deft
a pity, some don't grab a chance that comes
brooding it over, a sheer waste of time
one has to be smart to learn fast and hum
hymns of the master with which heart may chime
practicing well, one learns to feel lifted
for it's a matter of choice not just fate
humble, honest, kind; gems that are gifted
letting the love flow, pushing out the hate
faithful surrender brings peace to enjoy
a choice each one of us needs to employ
I am a ship,
with a sail
reaching toward the ether and
a rudder reaching back
through the water of centuries…
… ahead lies my harbor
of mystery within…
ahoy, where is polly
ahoy me matey~~where is that parrot~~that land lover stole me words
2019 December 28
*1st Place*
A thief who Steals your thoughts
~~Bobby May
*3rd Place*
Podium placement (1)
~~Brian Strand
( To a fellow local poet, Susan Booth, who is taking a sabbatical)
Blank page or white screen champing at the bit,
both restless for the whip of pen or key
mind struggling for a word or phrase that fit
the image that the inner self can see.
Sometimes one finds the pitcher leaves the well
with nothing to inspire, no flame, no growth,
on other days it seems one is on fire,
the mind alive, the soul, or sometimes both.
A poet's voyage often is alone
so fellow wordsmiths are a welcome sight,
the flags they fly different in style and tone
their cargo thoughts, emotions or delight.
Set sail soon, your Muse dictates your tack,
where we in safe harbour welcome you back.
It is not
a foregone conclusion,
but a reality;
even porcupines
know love—
without making pain
a subsidiary organism;
The pain of love’s waves
may forth ashore,
but the waves recede
and the forth dissipates,
leaving a sea of memories
floating on the ocean of life;
Yet, docked and anchored,
you can still set sail
to tomorrow, today; trust.
You are the captain
of your soul
and the wind in your sail:
Ahoy!
Chess Ahoy!
Upon an ivory-blue
ocean, oil pastel paints
the canvas
aboard the deck floats, buoyed
surfing foamy shores
a blurred realism
hoarding its cargo—
cobalt sea glass
squares in place,
chiseled chess pieces
ride the tide
ebbing and flowing
Sent are your gallant knights
lowly pawns
the King decrees—
God save the Queen!
Will
you take my hand
and voyage with me
upon this ship
discovery;
Will
you come aboard
and sail a sea
of uncharted waters,
fancy-free;
Will
you explore new sounds,
discover a place
unknown,with unique
imagery;
Will
you close your eyes,
let the canvas unfold,
and imagination pen..
poetry?