Best Navy Poems
White stars, red and white stripes.
Blue for loyalty.
Waving in the wind, instilling pride.
Reminding us of pledge.
Apple pie, Chevrolet, John Wayne.
Viet Nam, Gulf War,
Freedom of speech, freedom riders,
Free to think, free to be the best we can be.
Texas, California, Iowa, from sea to shining me.
State pride, rawhide, courageous side.
A cultural mix unheard of before the Pilgrims landed, and the Natives
Took pity and helped them live.
Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Veterans of Foreign Wars,
Germans, French, Italians, Scots, Swedes, African Americans.
All Americans, all united in that.
911 Hero pride.
Sacrifices. Pride to all of us, they were Americans.
All for one, a nation under God, my Country Tis of Thee
8/27/2018 My Country Tis of Thee Contest Sponsor: Brahn Bailey
What they don’t tell You
What the recruiters tell you:
“Be all you can be.”
“An Army of one.”
“Fly high with the Air Force.”
“Join the Navy and see the world.”
“Be the best. Be a Marine.”
“Join the National Guard and get an education and keep your job.”
Things recruiters leave out:
Watching your friend(s) go home in body bag(s).
The dirt and sweat.
C rations, K rations, MRE’s.
PTSD, suicides, drug addiction.
Limbs lost. Traumatic brain injury.
Bloated, decomposing corpses.
Dead men, women and children.
Fear so intense you soil yourself.
Lice, sand, dust, cold, heat.
The stench of death.
Families torn apart.
Long road to rehab or death whichever comes first.
Norfolk waterways
are full of navy vessels
God bless the navy
I am sea of navy blue.
I am constantly in motion.
Some people on me
have 'mal de mer' ,
but they need to take more care.
I am sea of navy blue.
I swell, but can be calm.
People like it when I am calm,
but it's all the same to me.
I am sea of navy blue
and I adore my colour.
Most seas are green, I think,
but I am special...
Sail on me.
------------------------------------------------
12/27/2015
Contest - Your Choice (10)
Personification
Sponsor - Brian Strand,
1st place win
He claims to be a Navy man
The game scream catch me if you can
I won't fall for that hoax again
, can you take it on the chin,?
, wanted loved and thought I'd found
Love requires that you come around
,, at least come long enough to talk
, hurry now you must not balk
I will not engage in
, anything Akin to sin
But if you would hold my heart
Wedding Bells with just the start
“In Sweden”, our host did proclaim
“We all eat a whole lot of game
Not chicken or goose
But reindeer and moose
And we eat it with no sense of shame”
Ghosts rise up at night
From the sinking tale of tides
rocks hear all the Cries
Charma
(Not for the contest,but inspired by Raul's picture 'Ghost tides')
The Sun was drowsing quietly,
Once upon a century,
Mister Ocean calm but afraid,
She was far but had a selected destiny.
The ship was named unsinkable,
She was the biggest ship ever,
On those times, she was also famous,
She was none other than Titanic.
On fourteenth April, nineteen twelve,
That day was typically pleasant,
At night eleven forty Post Meridiem,
Titanic struck an enormous ice berg.
With this the ship started sinking,
The passengers were with tensed faces,
This was the load for all Navy members,
All ran through the life boats.
At the peak time,
All mommys were in search for child,
Babies and children were all tensed for mom,
But the destiny set was really-really wrong!
At that moonless night,
All the men were having a quote in the mind,
"Girls, wife and children should be rescued first",
"We can leave the world for our love."
Every two couple saw each other,
Last time ever,
Also this maritime disaster,
Made the ship into two forever.
The sinking Titanic killed thousands of people,
But also seven hundred five lives,
Were rescued as worked ample,
But everybody understood- This wasn't simple!
This disaster took place,
In a very cold ocean,
That was North Atlantic Ocean,
It will be memorable for what happened here!
On fifteenth April, nineteen twelve,
The whole world was in a great shock,
At morning, two thirty Ante Meridiem,
The ship went down with the corpse.
Titanic is known as,
The ship of dreams,
As many crew members had a dream,
To make Titanic unsinkable as imagined!
She is known as,
The ship of wonders,
And also known as,
The ghost ship.
The Navy members always said,
"God himself cannot sink this ship",
But one night was more than enough,
To make this true statement false!
Navy blue tears
expelling...
Navy blue tears
welling...
Navy blue tears
falling...
A higher power
calling!
Navy blue tears
caressing lips...
Navy blue tears
as heart rips...
Navy blue tears...
no longer;
Navy blue tears...
have made I stronger.
NAVY BLUE NIGHTS
She sees blue “bonjour” in his handsome eyes.
He’s wild for her cornflower wig, a pageboy.
A bluebird flits in their garden delight,
where plump berries grow and joy’s juice doth flow.
Her manicure’s shaded with chalybeous.
Her ears pierced with abalone blue pearls.
Egyptian blue and heavy mascara,
her nighttime’s infused with forget-me-knots.
His denim jeans frame his posterior.
Her azure eye winks as he passes by.
Slightly parted berry lips brush his lips.
He holds his breath blue as she whispers “adieu”
1/23/2017
Sitting on the old black oak, where we used to fish together,
lost in the past, I think back, and remember a better day.
You wrote to me about your new ship, and new friends,
and your new Pontiac, with only twenty-two payments left to pay.
The morning's rain left the air heavy, like my heart,
as I coax my line and bobber to and fro.
I can't find any explanation for this world,
or reason for why you had to go.
Last watch was nearly over, time to hit the cot,
two exocet missiles hit port-side,
your stricken ship never fired a shot.
Two days later, from the fantail of the USS Conyngham (DDG-17),
Senior Enlisted CPO, tall and proud, left over from an older Navy,
turned his head down, and away, with shoulders heaving,
eyes sunken and red, that Chief cried like a little baby.
Things didn't turn out quite as we had planned,
I was supposed to be your son's Godfather,
And you were supposed to be my Best Man.
I pull up my line and tackle, to answer nature's call,
the stream splashed down to meet the river,
and Marshal Tucker Band played on the truck radio.
I reach into my pocket, and pull out two pieces of metal,
hanging from a faded chain, gleaming, they gently clink.
Name, branch, social, blood type, and religion tell the tale...
thrown now into the river's, deeping, I watch them quickly sink.
'Midst cannon smoke the sun arose, blood red
To spread the night's cold horrors on the bay
Our tattered sails waved farewells to the dead
Rain washing both our blood and shame away
No more would beasts of war be freed or fed
Or mankind's conscience let such madness lay.
~ 1st Place ~ in the "Each Letter Threads The Verse" Poetry Contest, Joseph May, Judge & Sponsor.
* This is a form called "The Harrisham Rhyme", created by Harrisham Minhas, from Punjab, India. It is a six-line poem with the rhyme scheme: ababab. In this form, the last letter of the first word of each line, is the first letter of the first word of the next line. I hope you enjoy it! *
ocean waters deep
navy submarine hides out
cruise missiles ready
A is for Airspeed who graduated from Oxford
B is for Bristol with their whispering giants
C is for Convair and Canadair also
B recalls Boulton-Paul who built many Defiants.
D for De Havilland and those sleek Comet racers
E for the energy shown at Embraer
F connotes Fairchild who made a Packet or two
And G stood for Grumman at whom few tomcats stare.
H means Handley-Page or old Hawker-Siddeley
Astounding the globe with their jump-jet designs
I’s for Invincible, she sailed with Sea Harriers
J for the Jetstream with its dynamic lines.
K stands for Kaman so creative with rotorcraft
L must be Lockheed, the Starfighter’s dad
Whining like werewolves when losing their airspeed
Sure to send shivers down the spine of some lad.
M is for Mooney, sleek princess of pistons
N recalls Northrop proud makers of Hornets
Patrolling our oceans from carriers grey
Safeguarding airspace up close to the Arctic
Or defending the cargoes we import every day.
O for the Ospreys whose engines can tilt
P means Piaggio with rare pushing propellors
Drowning-out tenors with their monotone song
Queue for the taxiway, proceed as instructed
Safe separation your life will prolong.
R for those Robins with oddly cranked wings
S stood for Sopwith, with taut wiring and struts
T for the Taylorcraft, no need for sprung nosewheel
U for the uniformed men in rough huts.
V for those Vickers from Brooklands ascending
W for Westland down Somerset way
X-painted large means don’t use this runway
As it’s not been maintained for many-a-day.
Y is the yearning to sit in a cockpit
To strap oneself tight to a privileged seat
Z for the Zeros that rattled their cannons
And so strafed the decks of a Pearl Harbour fleet.
I chanced on a lady in waiting,
That kissed me.
And called me Baby.
"I say, hey,
It's a mistake, Lady.
You can kiss me Again,
But Your Husband,
Is Me, Matey...Baby.
Luv Ya Son.
CVN 72, Thank You.
That's Abe Lincoln, Matey.
H.Elless
Total Rogue.