Best Old Salt Poems
The Old Salt was a special man who came along in a time
when he was needed most.
A time that is now gone forever.
When men believed and sacrificed, when hero’s walked the earth in mass.
When patriotism was not just a word
but,
by what men lived and judged the worth of each,
a man who lived a life most of us cannot comprehend.
An era now gone as this warriors tour of duty ends at this station,
and begins anew in the heavenly fleet.
Sail on Sailor into your unaccompanied tour,
we salute you.
What greater honor, that when a man moves forward,
he leaves behind in each of us the best of what he was.
A defender, protector, supporter, victor, a warrior,
the last of the breed from an era when ships were made of wood
and men were made of steel.
The Old Salt has reported for duty that takes him away from us for now.
Those of us who remain behind,
remember, and will continue to remember,
because he now resides forever in our hearts.
As I look up at night, I envision The Old Salt,
a beret draped just above the eye,
as he draws upon his pipe,
quietly he waits.
The guardian of heaven’s gate.
Forth he went upon the sea
grizzled and tough as he could be.
But when the old salt came to shore
he'd look for Jenny Lynn some more.
She was lost from him for years;
he'd shed a bucket of bitter tears.
Dreaming of the day they'd meet
the old man had a heart so sweet.
Someday he would find his daughter.
Till then he'd spend life on the water.
for "Sweet and Salty" contest
Once there was a man called Mike & Irk
got his sweetheart “sweet tooth” pop rocks,
Bon-bon, candy, lollipop, toffee
Wonka laffy taffy cherry
Bloody how could the “old salt” indulge in sweet-talk?
Written for the Contest "Sweet or salty?" by my friend Poet.Andrea Dietrich
I’ve seen the seaman’s life around,
So, when I step on solid ground,
Where I’ve forgot how life self goes,
Who rules this world and how grass grows,
I have a feeling of distortion
Of everything to smallest portion,
And breeze that blows humans’ faces
Out to the ugliest grimaces
Again remind me days and nights
That being spent away from lights,
The cities’ smogs and women’s laces,
Were fulfilled with the Ocean races,
Night watches, squalls, and pitch, and roll –
To name a few to d*mn’em all!
The sunsets miles away from home
And countries hardly ever known
To those wasting lives ashore,
The highest tides and cheapest whores,
The destined ups-n-downs after
I only heard the Fortune’s laughter,
When everything that I could make,
Was my face’s smiling poor fake!
I do remember ships-n-captains,
The seamen’s dreams of life like sultan’s,
Drake’s Passage monster waves and waters,
Chinese typhoons and bloodshed slaughters,
The taste of salt upon my lips,
The Lord God’s mercy giving tips,
Sea spirit, zest and playful mood
That raise up right in neighborhood,
Yet frequent kicks and rare smiles,
Else shipborne deaths, officials’ files,
And - to complete this shortest list –
Dead leeward leak and starboard mist!
Nimitz is still strong
the "Old Salt" is getting old
set to sail again
The sea plays tricks you see
The old salt said looking straight at me
For the sun and waves look different
And sometimes they appear heaven sent
He was leaning on the pier that day
Sucking back his pipe in the usual way
We were sailing in the roaring forties winds
And thinking that we would have the luck again
But on the third day the wind left us then
Becalmed we were for two weeks on end
He stopped the story at that point
Looking me in eye for the next point he did anoint
I was in the crow’s nest
A-top the main mast
When I saw it then on the horizon
A angel in dazzling white waving me on
I couldn’t believe my eyes
But it was plain to see without asking why
Ahoy Captain! I loudly said
Pointing out the being in my dread
The raised his glass and he also saw
The dazzling white angel waving even more
I saw him put his glass down
And he looked at me without a sound
But we had been be-calmed so long
So he ordered out the long boats towing us then
Rowing toward the dazzling angel there
The crew put their back into it with all strength and care
As we rowed on to the dazzling white
We felt the wind start for us just right
And as it filled our sails tight
The dazzling angel was gone in a blaze of white
So we made it to Sydney town
And many a voyage I have sailed the world around
But I didn’t see the dazzling angel again
Until last night in my room beckoning
I could not sleep that night
Thinking of the sailor’s tale of dazzling light
And I didn’t see the Old Salt again
He died that night a mystery until the end.
© Paul Warren Poetry
In the corner of a pub
There sits an old sea dog
He tells the same old stories
His mind is full of fog
“Ahoy, me hearties! Pass the rum
And I’ll spin you a yarn of old
About the time I was a pirate
A tale I’ve rarely told”
“I’ve sailed the ocean blue
I’ve had a bounty on me head
Sailing under the Jolly Rodger
Doom and fear we spread”
“Few ships could out run
My ship the Whores Desire
Those that got too close
Came under ferocious cannon fire”
“Aye, I’ve scuppered many a vessel
That dared to happen by
Captives had just two choices
To join us or to die”
“My ship did on occasion
Have mutineers, alas
Those scurvy dogs soon saw my point
The point of me cutlass”
“I used to stand upon the deck
With me parrot on me shoulder
But, pirating became less fun
As I was growing older”
“I buried many a treasure
On islands of such beauty
But, my ageing mind was playing tricks
I forget where I buried the booty”
“Aye, I was an old sea dog for sure
But me memory had gone
No pieces of eight to be found
I’d sailed me last horizon”
“A pirate captain is no good
If his mind has gone all blank
It’ll end up only one way
A short walk along the plank”
“So that’s me story, all there is
There’s no more to be told
Ahoy, me hearties! Pass the rum
And I’ll spin you a yarn of old”
And so we’ll leave the old salt there
And his constant repetition
Three sheets to the wind, repeating yarns
To anyone who cares to listen
©Gary Wayne Hill, 2019