Best Cutty Poems
Strolling the beach one day, a magnificent shell I happened to see.
I picked it up and held it to my ear - just out of curiosity -
To see if the old wives tale was true that it could speak to me!
Behold! 'Tis true! What fantastic tales it spewed forth from the sea!
I heard waves lapping gently against a sailboat as through the sea it tore,
And the mighty roar of breakers crashing upon a distant shore!
I eavesdropped on a pod of gossiping whales cruising at their leisure,
And I could swear I heard phantom pirates arguing o'er lost treasure!
I heard the battles' roar of mighty armadas in their quest for victory,
And the screams of heroic men slipping 'neath the waves to spend eternity!
I heard the groan of majestic ships breaking apart plunging to the deep.
I even heard the final SOS of the Titanic before it took its tragic leap!
I heard the chanting of old sea dogs as they plied the bounding main,
And their pleas for God's mercy as they sailed his treacherous domain!
I heard the wind shrieking through the rigging of the dashing Cutty Sark,
As she sped through the Roaring Forties, those straits so very startk!
I was startled to hear sergeant major fish count cadence as if on parade,
And the amorous beckoning coo of a charming, yet illusive mermaid!
Could it be that these mysterious things I heard were just an aberration?
Perhaps, but what a change from my boring cell phone communication!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
Wicked wind I hate you so,
I’d rather sit in ice cold snow,
Your breath is cold and touch
So fraught, I think your soul from
Devil bought
A paragraph from weather’s
Tale, you’d think you were the
Holy Grail; speeding, pushing,
Blowing crush
None escapes your windy whoosh!
Cutty Sark or clothes on bush,
Strutting, cutting, butting breeze
Lifts old maids’ dress past their knees,
Blows the lash from pretty eyes,
Takes the thrush and clouds from
Skies; no escape from this cruel jape
Windy, weather, mistral‘s shape
When first I saw London, it was in a book in the library,
But then I came to England, experiencing its history.
The Bridges over the river Thames, like sentinels over the city stand...
While the long Buildings of Parliament, lay beneath Big Ben's command.
The Palace Guard at Buckingham, who keep safe Her Majesty...
Marched oh so smartly on parade; such a wondrous sight to see.
The Cathedral at Westminster, final home to Kings and Poet too...
Along with other Heroes of the Realm are honored and here given their due.
The bustling floors at Harrods, with all the things to buy...
Finding just the right one for Granny, as too soon for home we'll fly.
The imposing dome of St. Paul's and its windows of stained glass...
Will not be erased from memory, so long as life shall last.
The Double Deck Bus ride to Picadilly or the Tube to Trafalgar Square...
Where stands the Column of Nelson, rising high into the air.
Standing on the deck of the Cutty Sark with the Moth laying close beside...
A trip to the Maritime Museum and a quiet Hansom ride.
We'll not forget the Museum of art, the British Museum, or the Rosetta Stone...
We will long remember Traitor's Gate, where Ann Boleyn once entered alone.
Within the walls of the Tower are kept the Jewels of State...
Lingering here with the memories past, of those who here met their fate.
Alas, we will miss this Great City as homeward soon we'll go...
But it is the people we'll miss most of all, the Londoners we've come to know.
Though we know not your names, your faces with us remain...
For we will fly homeward and oft think of you again.
These few lines cannot begin to tell the cherished thoughts we keep...
Of your City, your History, your People across the ocean so wide and deep.
We hope you always will be well, in your country on the sea...
As friends we depart your historic land, our best wishes always for thee.
" Sci-Fi Bar Jokes & Riddles ... "
( 1 Tim. 1: 11)
(1.)
"Star Wars Bar ..."
A Jedi Knight and a Wookie, walk into a bar ...
The Jedi tells the bartender to keep the drinks coming.
Around dawn, when the Jedi is too drunk to think,
the bartender, then tells them both, its time to pay
their tab. Then the Jedi, turns to his buddy, the Wookie
and asks, "Do You Mind?"
------- ------- ------ -------
(2)
"Dune's Sand Bar ..."
On Arrakis, the desert planet known as Dune,
A Duke and a Baron, walks into a bar ...
Now, which one orders the biggest bottle of Mezcal?
------- ------ ------- -------
(3)
"The Matrix-Mixer Bar ..."
Neo and Morpheus, walk into a bar ...
On that night, every patron, gets their first drink free
Now, the selection is between two drink choices on
the list: They can choose either the 'Crimson Cocktail'
or the 'Blue Kamikaze' ... Which did Neo pick?
------- ------- ------- ------
(4)
"Stargate Symbol Bar ..."
Col. O'Neill and Teal'c, walk into the Stargate
and wine-up in a bar (he-he) ... in a world
very much like our own. While there, they
socialize with the locals, sample strange brews
and get very intoxicated. However, not to worry,
on this world, the bartender is used to visitors
who can't handle the native liquors ... So,
the bar has their own taxi, on standby
for such occasions. So he dials the cab.
But before the cabdriver comes, the taxi
has to be gased up. The question is:
"What gas station does he use?"
------- ------- ------- -------
(5)
"Barsoom/Mars' Whiskey Bar ..."
A Thern and a Thark, walk into a bar ...
They join John Carter, who was drinking Cutty Sark
and a Martini. Also there, is The Princess, who
sips on deja-blue water and a shot of Royal Crown.
The Thern, gives his order for a glass of Jameson & Gin
And the Thark, orders: Jim Bean and Jack Daniels
... and a Bourbon ... and a Beer
------- ------- ------- -------
(6)
"Star Trek's Hit The Deck"
As They Journey Into Darkness & Each Distant Star
Kirk & Spock Walks Into The Enterprize's Bar
And Tho' The Ship May Shake & Warp-Drive-Drop
Mr. Spock Keeps As Cool As A Glass of Ciroc
And Captain Kirk, Just Orders A Scotch On The Rocks
('Cause Scotty Takes Care of All The Enterprize's Stock)
------- ------- ------- -------
Poem/Jokes by: MoonBee
Form:
Clipper Ships
My mother; she wasn’t there any more
Burned away in chemo radiology
Therapy for the incurable
As she lingered for a year
Lobotomized by cancer
But in her dreams she sailed her clipper ships
Sailed away on the mighty Cutty Sark
Indomitable spirit she was
Swayed by the poetry of canvas sails
A sea gull riding to the rigging
Until the coma took her
And us to a three-day hell
As we patiently watched her
Slowly inexorably fade away
Every last breath counted in longer minutes
But she stood bare foot on the deck
The salt washed planking oak wind swept
Beneath the great white wings blown the prow
Her heart pushed aboard the clipper ship
She sailed the proud sea the pride of her fleet
And every last breath in longer and longer minutes
She reached at last the very last
No goodbye, no farewell, just a soft emptying sigh
As at last; she escaped
Leaving us alone in the deathly silent room
Gone
Aye my lads ! She’s a fine grand ship
My mother said
My brothers and I stood gawping on the dock
The finest clipper of the fleet the mighty Cutty Sark
The great masts from which to hang your dreams
And ride the plumes of briny waves
She’s a thousand books of sailor’s tales
With rigging made from the strings of Neptune’s harp
She can sail from one edge of eternity to the next
In crematorium puffs of smoke
And now just ash
White wing gull she rides the slipstream still
Still; she sails her clipper ships
While on holiday in St Austell on the Cornwall coast of England, we saw a great sail ship
cutting through the rough seas. I remember my Mothers eyes were shinning and streaming,
her face a picture of rapture. Later that year she took us all to see The Cutty Sark. A
grand old Clipper dry docked at Greenwich London. I have never seen anyone so enthralled
and enraptured as she was, as we all stood on the deck. From then on paintings and models
of great sail ships frequented every wall and corner of our home. Paintings and photo's of
The Cutty Sark can be found on Google. Take a look sometime if you like, and you'll see
why she fell in love.
St Paul’s gazes out over the modernising City
Where the Tower shrinks in its corner
Fearful of the vicious Shard
The Abbey and Houses of Parliament
Keep Westminster alive
Under the gaze of a watchful Eye
The hustle of the restless Oxford Street
Is matched by the bustle of Soho
The British Museum still reigns supreme in Bloomsbury
Despite constant tourist invasion
On the river the Cutty Sark is rehabilitated
And Tower Bridge still opens
The Boat Race can be seen every year but not from the new Garden Bridge
JACK DANIELS met JIM BEAM at the CANADIAN CLUB
to discuss their upcoming trip on the CUTTY SARK.
They were planning a vacation to a Caribbean cove
to get some SOUTHERN COMFORT.
JOHNNY WALKER, who had a disagreement with
them over their SLOE GIN game, wanted to
give them a SAKI. "VODKA ya think you're doing?"
chimed in GIBSON, who was a BEEFEATER sitting nearby.
"It's not like EARLY TIMES...so just wipe that
SMIRNOFF your face." A brawl would have started,
but a beautiful woman came in. "Look at them
COURVOISIERs," said the MARTIN MILLERs.
They noticed her ring with the BLUE SAPHIRE from
BOMBAY.
JACK DANIELS immediately lost interest in the argument,
and asked if he could sit with her. She agreed and he sat
down. He noticed that she had a B & B monogram on her blouse.
"I've not seen you here before...what's your name and where
are you from?" he asked.
In a charming southern accent she replied, "Ma name is
MARGARITA, Ahm new in town, and Ahm from HENNESSY."
When the waiter came over, they ordered two MINT JULEPS.
It was the start of a relationship that the DEWARS of them
enjoyed, especially when they bowled SCOTCH doubles together.
Sleeping in the corner of a boxcar bound for Boulder
Got a life I like to leave behind a love I'd like to keep.
With the River passing slowly through the desert night below me
The thunder rips across the sky and wakes me from my sleep.
Now I spent the later sixties in the Colorado Rockies,
But California called when I was running out of bread .
As Caroline tried not to cry, we slowly kissed our love goodbye
And 10 years came between us is our separate lives we led.
Now a man in search of girls and dreams can bend his mind and make it seem
Like all good things are waiting in the next town round the bend.
But all I got from the traveling life was a beat-up Ford and a nagging wife,
And nothing in my future here but things that might have been.
Another pour of Cutty Sark at a Chinese bar in Buena Park ,
I thought back on my life ‘till there was nothing more to say.
So I didn’t find it too hard to walk out to that train yard
And in the dusk I jumped aboard an eastbound Santa Fe.
Now staring blankly at the wall a life of hatred I recall
Our quiet nights were seldom as are fighting words increased.
But I've left it all eight hours ago to start life I used to know,
With the night chill on my blanket, ‘cross the River headed East.
Pardon me but I've made one mistake.
Can't you see I'm doing all I can.
Let me be and I’ll find love a gain
Because I'm going to see my Mountain Girl again.
Author's note: Intended as a song, the last four lines are meant to be a chorus interspersed after every other stanza. Dedicated to Ian Tyson.
JACK DANIELS met JIM BEAM at the CANADIAN CLUB to discuss their upcoming trip on the
CUTTY SARK. They were planning to go south for some SOUTHERN COMFORT, but when the
ship had a fire, they thought they might have to SCOTCH their plans.
JOHNNY WALKER, who had a disagreement with them over their SLOE GIN game, wanted to
give them both a SAKI in the nose. "VODKA ya think you're doing?! cried JIM and JACK.
"It's not like EARLY TIMES!!"
CAPTAIN MORGAN came over, and BRANDY, the waitress, brought his VO to their table. He
tried to calm things down by talking about his last trip. "How BLUE CURACAO was...and the
mornings were alive with the TULLAMORE DEW!" He said.
"You've got a lot of GALIANO...to interrupt us like this!!" They RUMbled.
Before a TRIPLE SEC had passed, the CHRISTIAN BROTHERS were there to calm all the
DEWERS down and restore a HYPNOTIQ sense of peace, ALIZE for the time being.
For their efforts, they were awarded with shouts of SHIRAZ and the thanks of the king of the
club. He was not wearing his 7 CROWN, but instead, his CROWN ROYALE.
When first I saw London, it was in a book in the library
Then I came to England, and experienced its history.
The Bridges over the River Thames, like Sentinals over the city stand
While the long Buildings of Parliament lay beneath Big Ben's command.
The Palace Guard at Buckingham, who keep safe her Majestsy
Marched so smartly on parade...and were a wondrous sight to see.
The Cathedral at Westminster, final home to Kings and Poets too
Along with Heroes of the Realm, are honored and given their due.
The bustling floors at Harrods, with all the things to buy
Finding the right one for Granny, too soon home we fly.
The imposing Dome of St Paul's, its Windows of Stained Glass
Will not be erased from memory, so long as life will last.
The Double Deck Bus ride to Picadilly or the Tube to Trafalgar Square
Where stands the Column of Nelson, rising into the air.
Standing on the deck of the Cutty Sark, with the Moth laying close beside
A trip to the Maritime Museum, and a quiet Hansom ride.
We'll not forget the Museum of Art, the British Museum, or the Rosetta Stone
We'll long remember Traitor's Gate, where Ann Boleyn once entered alone.
Within the wall of The Tower are kept the Jewels of State
Lingering still are the Memories past, of Those who here met their Fate.
Alas, we'll miss this Great City, as homeward soon we go
But it is the People we will miss most of all, the Londoners we've come to know.
Though we know not your Names, your Faces will with us remain
As too soon we fly back to our home, and oft think of you again.
These few lines cannot begin to tell, the Cherished Thoughts we keep
Of your City, your History, your People...across the ocean so wide and deep.
We hope You always will be well, in your Country on the Sea
As Friends we part your Historic Land, our Best Wishes and Prayers are offered for Thee!
St Paul’s gazes out over the modernising City
Fearful of the vicious Shard
The Abbey and Houses of Parliament
Keep Westminster alive
But now under the gaze of a watchful Eye
The hustle of the restless Oxford Street
Is matched by the bustle of Soho
The British Museum still reigns supreme in Bloomsbury
Despite constant tourist invasion
On the river the Cutty Sark is rehabilitated
Tower Bridge still opens
The Boat Race can be seen every year and Cambridge can win
St Paul’s gazes out over the modernising City
Where the Tower shrinks in its corner
Fearful of the vicious Shard
The Abbey and Houses of Parliament
Keep Westminster alive
Under the gaze of a watchful Eye
The hustle of the restless Oxford Street
Is matched by the bustle of Soho
The British Museum still reigns supreme in Bloomsbury
Despite constant tourist invasion
On the river the Cutty Sark is rehabilitated
And Tower Bridge still opens
The Boat Race can be seen every year but not from the new Garden Bridge
Form:
Campfire
The steady winds blows
Across the sea to the land
We were building a tent
Right there on the sand
The sun shines so bright
With the most bluest sky
And we would stop to look
When the girls passes by
It was five of us
Frankie and Dost
They both pass away now
We five were very close
And there was Dion
Who lives next to me?
And from across the street
Me and my friend Cutty
Almost every two weeks
We would pick a beach to go
And this week we choose
To camp here in mayaro
We were young and free
And full of life’s desire
We would talk of our dreams
Smoking a joint by the campfire
The stars were so bright
With a beautiful full moon
And we made a pot of soup
But nobody brought a spoon
Next day walking up the shore
Meet a girl name Caroline
That’s was so many years go
But her face still lives in my mind
She was with her sisters
They were by a coconut tree
Couldn’t take my eyes off her
She just looks and smiles at me
And every chance I got
Would go to talk with her
Can still feel the pain today
when she leaves in father,s car
We always go back to mayaro
But I never saw her again
And as I write this poem
Till today can still feel the pain
When you are young
Your life is full of stories
Some with your disappointments
And some with your glories’
My friends dost and Frankie
Died when I am in America
Never reaching their dreams
They wish for by the campfire
Dion is a Rasta now
Still lives in Trinidad
Cutty spend a year in New York
Then return because his kids were sad
I always say if ever make it
Big here in New York
Will bring my friends and just
Like the old days we will talk
We use tell our dreams
That we hope one day to aspire
Five naive young friends
Smoking a joint by the campfire
Rest in peace my friends
As I end this poem I know
You’re by a campfire in heaven
Talking bout the days in mayaro
Sometimes there is a need for reality
Like the wrinkles and roughness of an old down Mainer
Sure P town and The Vinyard are nice and touristy
But for reality and hang it in the wind
There's no place like CuttyHunk
Hell you'd have to go all the way down to Isla Morada
To get reality like that.
Now there's some folk t'drink with!
It's hard to describe the overall feeling of homesick
A bar off the Alawai near Waikiki, Another in Inverness
But for down to earth look you in the eye people
Well Cutty Hunk and Isla Morada are tops
I'm from Liverpool, old Liverpool.
Reality belongs in that bombed out old town
Pass me that thing dammit
Enough with reality
Form:
You want to know the downside of Aquarius?
Just ask the folks who weren’t in Noah’s Ark,
or check out Jethro Tull and Linkin Park.
The paths we tread are manifold and various,
as Lewis learned by teaming up with Clark –
and now the Eightfold Way reveals the quark.
Is ‘humorous’ the equal of ‘hilarious’?
Is ‘mini-skirt’ the same as ‘cutty sark’?
About as similar as ‘bite’ and ‘bark’.
We take from this that language is precarious,
quite unreliable (if not nefarious):
don’t trust a man who says he’s made his mark.
Instead of “it is written”, “it is dark”:
for I have felt the sinews of the shark.