Best Skiffs Poems

Seventeen skiffs and boats tethered 
In twos and threes on the river Thames 
With their canvas winter shrouds 
And rows of seagulls perched on each,
Almost perfectly aligned,
Heads towards honeysuckle skies 
Where low winter's sun declines,
Reflected in cold silver flow.
Close by them a solitary heron stands...

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Marshmallow clouds in gingerbread dreams;
makeshift skiffs sail cerulean streams.
And tethered to invisible ropes;
they ferry wishes and madcap hopes.

Turquoise rivers flow to aqua seas
where misty landscapes transform with ease.
And mythical monsters roam once more;
lurking in shadows along its shore.

Prodigious plumes span a massive rift;
as mobile mountains...

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AWAKE IN LONG BEACH


awaiting the perk 

from freshly brewed java 

the lull in gull squabble over 

a tide dredging up debris

blemishing beach

husband and wife

skiffs passing in night 

each wake muster 

“good morning” 

sugar black coffee

crack boiled eggs 

never a smile

their chink in armor

invisible

amour not at...

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July is here, the Rain is pouring down.
    	The Nets are set…the Fish on the way.
   	No matter what the weather or how much sleep they do not get,
    	My family gives their all Every Tide—Every Pick--Even...

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TO BE BROKEN IS TO BE HONEST
Voice: Space Cadet (Wesley C)

The sand is a warm window; 
from the sill, 
     I watch skiffs in the distance sail away from me.
Sea opens to self-sought solitude.

That one day, distant lands became familiar playground
...

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Clouds form fascinating shapes in the sky,
like shapeshifters in a sea of blue;
and I love watching them go drifting by.

Some seem magical; that's hard to deny,
for as they silently slip into view;
clouds form fascinating shapes in the sky,

Misty fantasies, clouds seem so nearby;
sculpted in shades...

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In my bedroom the three of us all high:
her, her, and I: pass methamphetamine
in circle, her to her to I, our lean
mannequin forms pressed hand to leg to thigh,
one on my left, one with a school yard eye.
We three are, and have been since seventeen,
friends...

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A sea of tales:
calms and gales,
sardines and whales – 
fishy with scales,
children with pails;
shell-homes of snails;
pirates, and barrels of 
ales – a young boy's 
imagination...

Incoming wave, flooding 
village moats – drenching 
all: Save the women!~ 
cats, dogs, pet rats; then the preachers 
and teachers –...

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Somali Pirates prowl the Gulf of Aden
For merchant vessels with cargo laden
From the tenement rows of Puntland
Poor fishermen, ex-militia turned brigand
Now pledge fealty to the lucrative capitalist brand
Which polluted their waters and denuded their coast land
Fitted mercenaries scout the narrow strand
Booty and hostages from itinerant...

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Along the River

Along the river the wildflowers bloom:
Bright swathes of orange, blue and lavender
Join the swelling of buttercup mounds
Awakening scarlet petals of love.
Rowers slide by in painted skiffs,
Speckled fish leap to climb the sky.
I follow the Sun, always the Sun,
She stirs the world in the...

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The Conference at Mantua

Ah, what a scene of tranquil learnedness! 
The scholars nurse their tomes like babes in arms: 
white locks: heads cocked to savor the address 
of Pius, in his charming Latin: balm 

floats in through high-arched, airy colonnades. 
The lake is laced with...

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This rusting chain is witness to an age
When slate was quarried from these ancient cliffs
And where one hundred quarrymen earned a wage.
This harbour, filled with steamboats, schooners, skiffs,
Became a hive of industry, back when
Demand for road-stone, roofing slates and bricks
Was at its peak, then never...

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To the Invisible Friend 

The dredging decades have floated by like drifting clouds in the beckoning western sky.
Hello dead friend of my distant youthful days under these erotic jacaranda blooms.
It is my firm hope that you are satisfied and settled inside your deep and cozy...

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Doctrine detaches your mind, 
Away from rational thinking,
Makes you obstinate and rude,
Unable to be understood.

It proceeds your choices,
Causes insecurity and disgust,
About your normal feelings,
As it brings very low ceilings.

It does not free you to ponder,
On life's detours and skiffs,
On the real batters and drivers,
On real...

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There is a harbor, dark and still, 
That formed ten thousand years ago. 
It lies upon the western sill 
Of Grand Manan, in indigo. 

Seagulls soar above the cliffs. 
Puffins nest on jagged rock. 
From herring weirs, in island skiffs, 
The fishermen return to dock....

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