Best Crewman Poems
Thank you, Mr. Rogers (yes, his real name!)
for rescuing me from teenage purgatory.
Perplexed teenager, lacking social lumen
pulled C's in English, D's in History -
my dreadful retrograde trajectory
projected no collegiate acumen,
in prom discussions, practically subhuman!
Then, your poetical geometry
and sleek Cartesian choreography
became my sailing ship, and I, its crewman.
Derivatives soon danced in arcs non-static.
Pythagorean proofs helped me progress,
vectors resolved problems that once would vex.
Your agile algebra of joy quadratic:
my new hypotenuse of happiness
helped me to find myself... I solved for x.
Written 13 March 2020
Categories:
crewman, 10th grade, 11th grade,
Form:
Italian Sonnet
Born in Ireland in eighteen seventy four
He was a remarkably brave explorer
Three times to Antartica he did go
To that barren wilderness of ice and snow.
Once with Captain Scott and twice on his own
And it was on his third visit that his bravery became known
The expedition was to reach the southern pole
For all the great explorers, it was the ultimate goal.
The Weddell sea was freezing and tightened its grip
And crushed the Endurance, the expedition ship
The crew saved all the equipment and food stores too
They were stranded on an ice floe there was nothing they could do.
But the floe breaks up and on the sea it floats
So the order was given to launch the life boats
They set sail for Elephant island in the southern ocean
And with worsening conditions approached it with caution.
It was a temporary move, they knew they couldn't stay
Shackleton had to get help, there was no other way
Except for five crewmen all the rest did remain
On the island for four months with its inhospitable terrain.
South Georgia was the place that they needed to get to
From there they would be able to launch a rescue
Eight hundred nautical miles they had to row and sail
Through gigantic waves with snow, ice and hail.
Stromness whale station, it was their goal
But on their boat the harsh conditions had taken their toll
South of the island they had to land on a beach
Thirty six hours north was help, they needed to reach.
Three of the crew were taken ill, no more could they take
So Shackleton and two others, a long trek they did make
They trekked in conditions that could have caused harm
But they reached the whale station and raised the alarm.
The three sick crewman were rescued, thankfully still alive
And the twenty two on Elephant island were struggling to survive
Penguin and seal meat was what they had to eat
But they kept their hopes up not admitting defeat.
On August the thirtieth in nineteen sixteen
A Chilean navy ship on the horizon was seen
It was Shackletons fourth attempt to rescue his crew
Their ordeal was now over, but hell they'd been through.
Written 9th January 2018
Categories:
crewman, natural disasters,
Form:
Narrative
THE LEAVING OF LIVERPOOL
Giant ferry berthed in Mersey River :
Tugs take the strain with a shiver,
Ropes creak and we cast off -
She timorously inches away from the wharf.
Bow comes round and leaves the dyke:
Lit buildings spin carousel-like -
Strong currents have us in tow.
Black vortices with bubbles below,
Inkiness of river water stark:
Hear it more than see it in the dark.
Big crewman in black woolly hat
Yelling to another in Serbo-Croat:
Looks like mayhem but they know
How to swing her into the river, so
That ropes, men, machines, move in sync
Floating her out on the ink.
Liverpool fades in red glow;
Stars emerge from hiding low.
On the frowning wave
We are alone in the dark, save
Our own lights cast ghostly
Into nothingness mostly.
Go inside and shut out the night.
In the morning Dublin in sight.
Categories:
crewman, seariver,
Form:
Imagism
You can't fool a dancer,
hard reverb coming at you like Prancer-
welcome-wagon interstellar like Lancer-
holy demon!
When did my steam stop?
Holly weedin'!
Where did you chop chop?
Heeeeeeeeeeeey! ! ! !
Welcome here...
Its home in the winter.
Heeeeeeeeeeeey! ! ! !
Dear Splinter,
it's a creep in the depths of the beat,
it's the 'I won'ts' in the Orgasms and weeps,
the liver turns into seed,
never forgets to breathe,
because the end will set us all free! ! !
Welcome here,
I have a reason to sound clear,
so don't drop out justifyin' why you're not-
flappin- flippin- rectifyin,'
or wearing any gear...
Heather bids to whither in winter with a sinner!
Dharma- bammered- donner's party at dinner!
Don-wan gets undertaken by the cowards of the crewman,
that's what happens off stage at an out-land!
Astounding as the crowd that attracts,
jumpin' jimmy's all around the facts,
people clambering over outdated nick-nacks,
elders not retiring because they know they put evil back,
William wondered of war over sea's with the remorse,
Donna sang to the serious on stage with the poor,
verdict was made to off set the players inundating us with words,
technology crashed the earth and left the economy for the birds.
Categories:
crewman, age, art, beautiful, growing
Form:
Blitz
Gather friends if you care to hear, I’ll favor you with a tale
About the fate of a gallant ship that long ago did sail
Built of the finest teak wood in the year sixteen-thirty-nine
A three mast frigate tall and sleek the pride of the Holland line
One-hundred-twenty-three feet she was from her stern to her stem
She had a noble captain with a crew hand picked by him
Her beam was forty feet across and three hundred tons she’d weigh
As she left from home in Holland on that fateful summer day
She’d made this journey many times; this was just another run
As she sailed towards her eastern port in sixteen-forty-one
The ship arrived quite safe at port and received her cargo load
And then began her journey back along her seaward road
Off the shores of the African coast a storm began to brew
The ocean was quite treacherous unknownst to the gallant crew
In the stormy seas the ship made way towards the Cape of Hope
The violent winds blew mercilessly as each crewman grabbed a rope
As the ship began to flounder in the waters off the coast
Her angry captain shook his fist and began to loudly boast
The words the captain uttered became a curse old seamen say
He shouted “I’ll sail past this cape if it takes until doomsday”
From that time on the tale’s been told of the story of this ship
And what the fates have cursed her with upon that final trip
It’s said that on a stormy night off the waters of the shores
That you can see the phantom ship as the angry ocean roars
Some ships have sailed through eerie mists and there within the gloom
They have seen the shadowed specter of this cursed ship of doom
For those poor souls who’ve seen the ship must share its fate they say
And join its lonely crew on board as the ship goes on its way
There are not too many mariners who haven’t heard the tale
Of the phantom ship whose crew was lost out in a stormy gale
Few are those that can tell the tale as knowingly as I can
I'm one of the cursed crew of the fabled Flying Dutchman
Categories:
crewman, fantasy, mystery, seajourney, ocean,
Form:
Rhyme
Lost and drifting in time,
The captain gives the hourglass a turn.
It’s been months that the ship has wandered the waves;
Each dip is followed by a swelling rise.
Each day becomes another journal’s page.
“Another day lost at sea” is how the book tends to flow.
The crew dreams at night; the distant memories flow.
They’re brought back to a better time.
A lover’s kiss or a gilded page
in a family bible fill their heads, each in turn.
But once the morning lights rise,
their joy is drowned beneath the waves.
Such was my life without you. But your love brought waves
of joy that sent my sorrows on to flow
out and away. I let my aspirations rise
and cherished each sweet second of the time
we had together. This was our turn
to be happy. Your love was the pen and my heart was the page.
And so the ink dripped and blotted the journal’s page.
The crewman cried, “Land ho!” and, beyond wind and waves,
the sight of golden shores made each sailor’s eyes turn
skyward. Upward, thankful prayers flow,
from salt-cracked lips, more used for cursing those in recent time.
Forgiveness seemed mutual as the crew heard the cry of seagulls rise.
Now home for years, each day he would rise
and look anew on his journal’s last, unfinished page.
The captain remembers not the dreary, hopeless time,
but rather the harbor’s colors in the breeze. “It waves
for me,” he thinks, and onward the years flow.
No one is so forsaken that their fortune cannot turn.
And so I bless the day we met, for it marks the turn
of my sadness to joy. My spirits rise
With passions that flow
From my heart onto this page.
You rescued me from being tossed about on misery’s waves.
May our love that saved me outlast even time.
In life’s great book, we turn together each golden page.
Side by side, we rise above the mountains; together we dive beneath the waves.
Our ship may flow where it will, but my heart will be yours for all of time.
Categories:
crewman, adventure, history, hope, identity,
Form:
Ballade
Winter has come
water banks freeze
colorful sun
drift away please.
smoke forest calm
not a sound made
frost covered palms
snowy mountain fog fades.
Little marshmallow snow drops
arrive and fall, come with me we'ell ascend
through the cocoa plants stunned crops
the coldness, old mighty nature please befriend.
golden spiral artwork of nature
within the deep land lies the bitter
like the summit, so major
always frozen the sun shines, ice glitters.
Hush now follow me
into the wild devoid of humans
seize my hand leave reality lets flee
be my crewman.
we can now sail our ship
can't forget your thinking hat
let your mind unzip,
but i'l tell you now, we may never make it back.
sorry, that's how nature just is.
Categories:
crewman, adventure, happiness, imagination, mystery,
Form:
A Sea Shanty!
Mother call your children home,
put them in their beds.
Tell them stories of better times,
and try to fill their heads.
Give them dreams of yesterday,
and promises for tomorrow,
but bless them, Lord, as they sleep,
and take away their sorrow.
Jeff the crewman, singing at the wheel of the Maid...
heading for the Island of Edinburgh, home of Zirconia
Categories:
crewman, america, christian, forgiveness, freedom,
Form:
Free verse
EMOTIONAL ATTRACTION
While in this world it seems opposites have attraction
Male - female, plus - minus, north - south, captain and crewman
Between these terminals, force yielded by interaction
Drives the machines of existence material and human
Another vector impels not by contrast causation
Draws together the similar and those of perceived relativity
Thus species, races, interests, languages and nations
Coalesce, combine, blend and merge with close affinity
In human life, its creations, exchange, let alone sin
Our actions and products are coloured by our emotion
Thus what attracts tends to match what we feel within
This accord can account for affection or even devotion
But away with these generalities and abstractions
So before your eyes are completely glazed, near closure
A case: those who find dismal poems to have an attraction
Have within themselves some sadness they're not yet over
As it's been observed, behind faces of calm insulation
There may be hidden emotions well concealed
Many living lives of quiet desperation
That are, in their responses, unwittingly revealed
Categories:
crewman, creation, emotions,
Form:
Verse
looks like im posting
that means im home again
youth bruiser crewman
Categories:
crewman, art,
Form:
Haiku
Another movement, another minute Another hour, does this tick win yet?
Keep holding off the moment As if a day of glory will come
When fate shines down atonement
And then you will be optimum
Hypocrite thy name is human
We're in the same boat of lies
With humdrum holds and fickle crewman
We sail stubbornly sans surprise
Heave Ho! Heavy against the change we woe
Don't mind the wake, it won't touch our fate
Stroke! Row! Despite the winds blow
Let's take stake that chaos hold its state
You want life's meaning? Moving and reproduction
You want a sign? Let it be me
Want a purpose? Learn how you best function
What's the point? You'll just have to see
Categories:
crewman, adventure, dedication
Form:
Light Verse
Perhaps a conspiracy, but the crew only knows, the
Happenings aboard the USS Eldridge, kept hushed
In a ship that sailed from sea port to time portals
Leaves a feeling this test was not ready, but rushed
Amid the Atlantic they were meant to disappear
Despite intentions, not only from sight did they vanish
Ever baffled by a green, eerie glow where the ship was
Last, by naval command all of the records were banished
People say they reappeared in the Norfolk Naval shipyard
Heavily disoriented and fused to the steel hull of the deck
In legend they say these sailors fused were alive
And how did they explain this more than a ship wreck
Each crewman survivor, where are they all now
X-rayed and studied in a black ops facility?
Prying minds still trying to make sense of it all
Ever curious, but maybe beyond my ability
Remaining questions with impossible answers
In theory, could there still be witnesses left
Men or woman who saw a war ship materialize
Each in disbelief of their eyes, their logic bereft
Not knowing if it was paranormal or sanity failing
This gave a new definition, to the term parasailing
Categories:
crewman, time,
Form:
Acrostic
I woke up and took a good look in the mirror today,
I didn't recognize who i was but who i saw had this to say,
dreams are floating around like a lost boat at sea,
trying to look past the waves to see where land be,
should i travel East or maybe South?
should i speak up or shut my mouth?
should i try to catch a ride on another boat?
or push through on my own row, row, row,
But then i noticed that I have been sinking slowly,
my other crewman jumped overboard and the parrot never told me,
the sharks are swimming around and I am the bait,
and right now I have no choice but to sit and wait,
just a few moments, don't want to attract their attention,
and I wish i had an anti-diuretic for water retention,
because i'm dehydrating slowly, the sun taking all my energy,
i need some hope to see what i got ahead of me,
please somebody help im here lost at sea.
Categories:
crewman, depression, lost, lost,
Form:
Rhyme
The Sun regained the morning sky
As the moon made its retreat
While wise men sat and pondered why
Upon the mercy seat
There is no understanding why
Countries go to war
And young have to kill or die
Amiss this bloody chore
But one man never questioned
When duty came to call
Prepared to meet aggression
Prepared to fight them all
He stood there, in the twilight morn
Scarf waving in the breeze
Careful not to look forlorn
And locking both his knees
Scrambling 'round to and fro
Like ants upon the field
The ground crew, with plane in tow
Prepared for this ordeal
Captain Fate, climbed to his seat
The cockpit snug and cold
The last plane in a mighty fleet
But, on the field stood bold
A crewman pulled hard, the prop
As the engine spit and sputtered
Pointing to the guns on top
"Good luck" was all he uttered
Fate took his D3 albatross
and faced it in the wind
Waiting there, to take off
And the Quoting War begin
By Jerry Curtis
March 15, 2014
Categories:
crewman, analogy, humor,
Form:
Rhyme
Another movement, another minute
Another hour, does this tick win yet?
Keep holding off the moment
As if a day of glory will come
When fate shines down atonement
And then you will be optimum
Hypocrite thy name is human
We're in the same boat of lies
With humdrum holds and fickle crewman
We sail stubbornly sans surprise
Heave Ho! Heavy against all we must woe
Don't mind the wake, it won't touch our fate
Stroke! Row! Despite the winds blow!
Let's take stake that chaos hold its state
You want life's meaning? Reproduction
You want a sign? Let it be me
Want a purpose? Learn how we function
What's the point? You'll just have to see
Categories:
crewman, adventure
Form:
Sonnet