Best Sail Poems
* For Mary Kathleen Lessard Caithness *
~
cast tie-lines to shadowy depths above
meteors to plunge the ocean of suns
kick off - tally-ho! from the pier of known
a scoundrel's nod to the skull and bone
vast skies uncharted now beckon ahead
a dusk of dreams splashed yellow and red
naught but astounding, the adventures be
an endless sojourn 'cross a sparkling sea
the sky-palette waits for a score of tales
come a warm solar wind to puff the sails
all worries and why's now, abaft the beam!
set our course due for a foolish dream!
a celestial tempest to bend the jack
to his tasking a-hold the kicking strap
stem the tide, aye, mind the moonbeam drift
spread her wings wide and give her lift
the sextant's now set to the Milky Way
(we'll grave her clean on a windless day)
to port side, a wink from the Seven Sisters
off starboard, the gleam of nebulous vistas
we sunder the clouds with our wake of mist
now dark matter deep and heaven-kissed
tossed by the waves through a sea of night
we gasp for the void, yet we drown in light
our spirits denuded and paean-versed
we dare constellations to do their worst
for now we all pull to the labor at hand
to chart the expanse of this boundless land
at the bidding and mercy of a rapturous breeze
three prayers for fair winds and following seas
'til our hearts are sated and our marrow torn
and we drop our anchor there, worry-worn …
on the sands of time, we'll commend our dance
and return our dust ... to the great expanse.
~ 1st Place ~ in the "Sky" Poetry Contest, Anthony Slausen, Sponsor.
~ 1st Place ~ in the "Best Rhyming Poem 2018" Poetry Contest, John Hamilton, Sponsor.
~ Poem of the Day ~ at Poetry Soup.com, awarded February 1, 2018.
With Your Voice I Sail
My voice
may stumble, failing
a clear path to trace but
your smiling voice always steers me
clear of snags and boulders and, as I pass
through stormy waters, you alone can light
the clearest path to shore. With your voice, songs,
fragrance filled, unfurl their sails and freely flow
on the streams of my mind, and my grief now lies at ease
as dark words like giant fallen trees are left untouched
on some distant battlefield, and I can glide out of
the wind’s shadow, in the rhythm of time,
words billowing soft out of my mind.
As the last opalescent glow of sunset
fades away
I sail this ship alone
towards a crimson horizon
over a starlit sea
to the soft lapping of waves
which lullaby my destiny
I sail this ship alone
far from the coral sand
far from the pebbled beach
far from my sun-kissed land
Tonight there is no moon
but there's a sparkle in the sky
a starry night so still
filled with beacons of bright light
Tomorrow births a new dawn
a song within a dream
meadows of yellow buttercups
and fields of evergreen
Tomorrow I'll be greeted
by a pink-winged butterfly
a host of daffodils, and golden dandelions
a rose within a smile
Tomorrow I stroll along a new shore
feel fresh salt spray on my cheek
dance bare-foot in the wind
as Spring whispers on the breeze.
Double Rhyming Sonnets, Each A Perfect One Hundred Words
(1.)
Rhyme For Rhyme, Sail Lights Of Deepest Sublime,
A set of double rhyming sonnets
Rhyme for rhyme, poetry's seeking heart yearns
to bring beauty, setting this world ablaze
raging fires- eternity's breath burns
man and soul, to defeat world's morbid grey-
And often like dawn's refreshing new breath
gifting unto Love's bounty, deepest kiss
such treasures that survive past mortal death
in Art's true glow, far beyond life's esquisse.*
Yet poetic depths in hearts must be taught
to stir imagination to well span
far, far beyond what normal life has brought
into wicked world created by man.
Rhyme for rhyme, sail lights of deepest sublime.
Some born in glory to stop Hands of Time.
R. J. Lindley, 8-26- 1975, edited 10/12/2014,
edited again 12-09-2019
Sonnet, 100 words
( Why Poetry Stirs Mortal Hearts, Oft So Soothes The Soul )
(2.)
When Mercy Is Ghost Within Dying Mists
When Fated curse decreed loving a bust
into tormenting abyss life did slip,
dearest treasure with its glow born from lust
now a barnacle on a sunken ship-
Alas! Truth can be such a tragic blow
as heart deeply crushed often never mends
tho' in false pride one may put forth a show
reality states ills future portends!
To taste yet again her honey-sweet lips
and dwell yet again in her silken bed
behold her buxom charms and sexy hips
I would drink again, agonies I've bled.
When mercy is ghost within dying mists,
Torn are memories of romantic trysts.
R.J. Lindley, June 6th, 1973, edited 10/12/2014,
edited again 12-09-2019
Sonnet, 100 words ( Oft Fleeting Are Joys Of Misspent Youth )
Together the Owl and the PusyCat were married
Then again sailed out over the deep blue seas
Searching forever for the great Land of Nod,
To the place where they could find true peace.
True peace, true peace… Where they could find true peace.
The love that twined forever within their hearts
They sought throughout all the wonderous lands
Going to the place where they would live in peace,
A place where true peace, rules and lives in the hearts of the land.
The land, the land… Where true peace lives in the heart of the land.
Alas, the love of the heart, though truly not easy to find…
Is easier to find than the love of peace, found throughout the land.
So it’s said they will continue to sail, until that day comes true,
And when they land for the final time, will be up to me and you.
Me and you, me and you… That day will be up to me and you.
WHY DON'T WE SAIL AWAY, GO WHERE THE DOLPHINS PLAY
LEARN WHAT THE TRADE WINDS SAY ABOUT BEING IN LOVE
ON A TROPIC AISLE WE'LL PLAY AWHILE
WE'LL LEAVE OUR TROUBLES BEHIND
PUSH THE BUTTON FOR REWIND
MAYBE FIND SOME PEACE OF MIND
AND MAKE THE PIECES FIT
AND PERFECT OUR SWING WHILE HAMMOCKING
LIFE IS ILLUMINATING AND YOU'RE INTOXICATING ME
BATHING DAILY IN THE SEA, SMOKING RASTA THERAPY
MAKING LOVE INCREDIBLY NEATH A PALM TREE SHADE
EVERYTHING THAT'S NICE WE'LL DO IT TWICE
WE'RE NOT HERE FOR A LONG TIME,
SO LETS JUST HAVE A GOOD TIME, YEA
TO LIVE, TO LOVE, TO LAUGH WILL BE OUR EPITAPH
WALKING BAREFOOT ON LIFE'S PATH TO EVERY SHORE
OPEN EVERY DOOR TILL THERE ARE NO MORE
COME ON LET'S MORE THAN DREAM IT,
I KNOW WE'LL BOTH JUST SCREAM FOR MORE
SO LET'S JUST SAIL AWAY, GO WHERE THE DOLPHINS PLAY
LEARN WHAT THE TRADE WINDS SAY
ABOUT LIVING OUR DREAM
BASKING IN THE SAND NEAR AN ISLAND STREAM
AND WHEN THE LAST SUN SETS, AND LOVE IS A SILHOUETTE
DON'T THINK THAT WE'RE DONE YET
THAT OUR LOVINGS THROUGH
I'LL NEVER HAVE ENOUGH OF YOU
I DON'T BELIEVE IN LAST TIMES
WHEN THERE'S SO MANY GOOD TIMES
AND WE WILL NEVER SAY ADIEU
Down where magnolia blossoms white
Summer breezes touch wind chime's scales
Lovers sleep soundly in the night
Time flies, ships sail
On a downhill slide that can't contrail
Life lived mostly in fight or flight
So nice to enjoy a summer's tale
Close to the creek the breeze delights
Dream dreams, and fantasy build then exhale
Expedite change from pyrite to gold bright
Time flies, ships sail
August 06, 2022
For Brian
Set adrift on hapless tides
Away from distant shore
Aloft in time and lost in rhyme
There's nothing less than more
The winds that blow and fill my sails
Are but a memory
They whisper words as they propel
My ship across the sea
I ride the waves, both up and down
I chart the moon and stars
I write my rhymes in maritime
Of journeys near and far
A castaway on rays of sun
I sail the lighted stream
Shores of gold and topaz skies
This thought is but a dream
With that in mind I soar and climb
Beyond celestial bonds
I pitch my tent on banks of prose
And fish the verbal ponds
I seek to find the gentle words
That put my mind at ease
I navigate and contemplate
Upon cerebral seas
My poems are like islands
They're a stop along the way
Tomorrow I can look back on
The things I thought today
I'll soon reach port and then debark
With feet on solid ground
And share with everyone I know
These thoughts I found profound
Rockman
We sail away beneath the sun -
vows made. Our journey’s now begun.
We glide till twilight’s tangerine
drips into ocean’s azure-green.
To shore we’re led by June’s light breeze.
You give my hand a little squeeze.
We wait for time most opportune
for honey underneath the moon!
Jan. 5, 2019
for the Lay It On Me - 8X8 Poetry Contest of charles messina
rhyme pattern: aabbccdd
Releasing the rigid anchor line
Leaving the safety of land in our wake
Warm July zephyrs filling the sails
Resting even hands upon the tiller
As the bow broken waves drift slowly aft
Herring Gulls night songs hang as we pass
Violet clouds drifting in pinkish bronze dusk
Outlining the schooner adrift on the horizon
Dancing rhythm of the Highland Lighthouse
Gifts a moment of wine warmed lips fervor
Alone with the lights from distant headlands
Their essence illume the crests softly breaking
Gently swaying the craft in warm foamy brine
Faint guitar moments with my voice uninhibited
Evoking past memories of love on the Atlantic
Aspiration caught whole in the sail as we lay
A fearless embrace in the ethereal darkness
Of midnight on Massachusetts Bay sails…
You look sideways at me
I look straight on at you
You glance towards me
I stare at you
memorize the stiches of your coat
they are uneven
it must have been handmade
You look up at the sky
I look at your shoes
They are slim and obviously Italian
You've been traveling in Europe
I look at your cheekbones
You stare off at a tree
It is a beautiful tree
though I cant see why it has captured you
I' look at your hands
they're nice hands
expressive hands
strong enough
big enough but not too big
kind hands
You turn to the left to look out over the gray blank sea
I know we're not going to see each other again
Even the stark greyness of the Cape in late November is more compelling to you in this moment than I am
I am dancing colors
I am a fragrance
of clean smells
I am sauce and sassiness and ideas and concepts
and wants
God how I want you
But you would rather look at greyness
I will never see you again
Thank you for the kiss on the dock
Thank you for the dinner and the dance
Thank you for the moment in the library when you looked into my eyes for one very long minute and I felt alive
Just before you asked me to the dinner dance
But you seem to have lost your moorings
You are like a boat
A buoy
or a wooden raft
floating
you don't know North from South
East from West
Now your sails are not catching the wind
You are sort of flapping
carelessly
aimlessly
I watch you like watching a crab scuttle up the beach
Fascinated
I will never lose my way
( That's a lie)
Tonight
You were simply a dock
that I pulled up to ...tied off
Tomorrow the sun will rise
and I will feel full and excited
I'll move on fast
throw off your bow
You were like the wild north wind for me tonight
for about 5 minutes
The wind is fickle
When the wind changes I tact
While you were in my sails I did love you
Like any sailor is impassioned by the beautiful wind
that suddenly drives him forward
the exquisite unbelievable .... unspeakable
tarp full sail pulling hard
I will miss you
But only like I always miss the wind when it dies
No more and no less
my sails will be full and my beautiful ship will be headed out to God knows where
But you my questioning friend will not know enough to follow
You will be still looking left and seeing only the gray of Cape Cod in Winter and
Fair winds and following seas.
May full sails surge with scudding breeze.
May peaceful moorings host your craft
wherever indulgent winds waft.
A toast now to your safe return.
May choppy seas be left astern.
May evening offer pleasing berth
to ensconce in halcyon firth.
Please join me in this fantasy
and sail away to paradise;
as trade winds blow, our sails are full
so just give in as dreams entice.
For Neverland’s within our reach,
the innocence of love awaits;
it’s calling us to sail away
and enter through her luring gates.
Tranquility has open arms
as Eden beckons with her charms.
It’s only but a dream away
this tropic reverie of mine;
please join me on this magic ride
the time is now, our stars align.
We’ll stroll the pure white sands by day
and dream beneath the stars at night
as palm trees sway with ocean breeze;
a fantasy of pure delight.
Serenity is what we long
as paradise resounds her song.
My fantasy has open arms
as Eden beckons with her charms.
August 8, 2025
One should not venture into the open sea before he learns well of how to sail
For
Many dangers are lurking beneath the resentful waves that could make one fail!
© Demetrios Trifiatis
16 November 2022
Onward to the Moon, to Mercury, to Venus, to Mars
Set sail for the Heavens, to near and far Stars
What the mind of Man can conceive, he'll achieve
If he wills it's no dream; he's just got to believe...
History's littered with Empires stopped trying
Instead of moving forward, they just sat around crying
That exploration wastes time, all that kind of stuff
Today they're long gone, thought they'd had enough...
Of reaching and striving, of looking to do more
Not to rest on their laurels, not to rot to their cores