a shipmaster in love
The boat that left at sunset didn't have red sails
but fading sunlight painted grey sail red
even though the vessel was not going to China
not this year or any other year, the Oriental
wanted to know why he lost two wives
in, the short span of seven years
His third wife sees the boat disappear from
the safety of her verandah she doesn't like
a vessel moves and stays at home
She is secure, and pregnant, a feat his other wives
managed, hence that's why he sold them to
a bordello in Tashkent
the boat is a brigantine made of Canadian wood
the timber has the habit of groaning when
sails have no wind and days appear longer than
when a storm is brewing
The captain has a shopping list for his third wife
gave him, about buying figs in Sumatra and
coconuts in Congo, the captain smiles, his wife
she has never seen a map
Categories:
brigantine, absence, africa, age, birth,
Form: Free verse
Sail with me, my love
on our hearts brigantine ship of sails
where our soul will find love's dead reckoning
under the sail
where the heart's passionate wind
will carry us across our sea of emotion
as two silhouettes facing the beautiful sunset
Sail with me, my love
so our eyes may fill with star-lit observations
where we'll find our celestial fix
beneath the fore-mast of our hearts in twilight
where we'll rig our souls for our life's journey
Sail with me, my love
across the vast sea of love
so we may touch the horizon
on the winds of our tomorrow
where we'll rest on the bow
as we tack toward the Milky Way of our dreams
where our souls will find rest and comfort
until our last days end
1/26/23
Categories:
brigantine, life, love,
Form: Free verse
I had my first glimpse of her from the sandy beach,
her silhouette painted on the sky's canvas of peach
The regal double-mast brigantine, sailing out to sea
Upon waves she rode, full glory not yet at apogee
But whence the wind, her sails would be unfurled,
she'd glide quickly over waters, crested and curled
Fully hoisted and billowing in flowing trade winds,
chased by dolphins, breaking surface with dorsal fins
I longed to be a mariner aboard her quarterdeck
visiting foreign ports along the journey I would trek
Hearing tall tales the sailors were bound to embellish
Her crew was setting sail on a voyage I would relish
I yearned to stand at the helm; salt spray on my face
Memories of such an adventure I'd cherish and embrace,
on a vessel sailing between the sea and the stars
But I sit in the shallows, enviously watching from afar
Categories:
brigantine, sea,
Form: Rhyme
My father left this rocky coast
Upon a southbound brigantine;
To make his fortune, he did boast,
Six months along the Argentine.
A lighthouse lit our lonely cove
For more than fifty years in all.
The beacon of my mother’s love
N’er quenched a night, as I recall.
Long have I scanned the sky;
My sons have come and gone. I cry:
“O, who shall carry on the light
That shone in mother’s eyes, so bright?”
Categories:
brigantine, longing, lost love, love,
Form: Rhyme
In my distal conception you shine like a lucent star
whose touch fondles the fret and strings of my guitar.
An image worth painting in oils with my sable brush,
your voice like the recherche love song of a thrush.
You are the faint break of day in dawn's somber skies.
A sanctum of refuge in times of angst and weeping eyes.
My ardent lover, seducing me with each lustful thought.
You are life's pulse beating rhythmically within my heart.
If I am blinded tomorrow, visions of you I shall not lack.
And if I were entrapped in a world of boundless black,
wavering shadows would not fill my heart with fright,
for with you at my side, I would not have need of sight.
No demands would I make, but humbly I would beseech
you to please make me aware that you're within my reach.
You are the assuasive waves that quell my restless soul
and I, a brigantine moored in the shallows of your shoal.
November 12, 2022
2022 Marathon Mile 20 Contest
Sponsored by Mark Toney
Categories:
brigantine, emotions,
Form: Sonnet
My body washed unbidden on your shore
Tossed by life's waves to be maroon
I shall sail waves desperate never more
As I found love in your sheltered lagoon
I have nothing, no jeweled treasure to share
No bright diamonds, red rubies, precious art
You clothed me in reason, this coat I wear
For my gift, a promise we'll never part
My love humble and eternally free
I give it without my worry or fear
Placed on your heart's altar for you to see
With only this, you keep it well my dear
Life, cast me out from its brigantine deck
A lone survivor from my own shipwreck
9/14/17
Categories:
brigantine, giving, love, magic,
Form: Sonnet
Then Captain Thompson told a tale of whales,
of Davy Jones and seas that take mens' lives.
Of raging waters cold with great strong gales,
that drive his vessel deep although man strives.
A story laced with woe and weeping wives,
of boats fast pushing clear of shore and waves.
To save a wretched few their wondrous prize,
redeeming souls from green and loathsome graves.
Tremendous breakers beat ship sides much more,
upon Fulsome Rock brigantine doth lie.
In blackened sky the arching rockets soar
amid the rain come falling low to die.
And children see their fathers go and cry,
a scene forever staining a young mind.
Men fight the waves, the surging seas are high,
to rowers' fate all those on shore do bind.
Categories:
brigantine, ocean,
Form: Rhyme
This time in June as days are fair and bright,
Brig Copenhagen takes her leave from coast
to sail on Java's way for copra white.
Bet's made with schooner Captain Jake that most
in Brigantine returns first,aye, our boast.
The sheets are filling wide with breeze this day,
to gentle Zephyr we lift high a toast.
Swells go past oak boards showing gleams of spray
Toward Java we run free without delay
Good time lest blame foul weather moves our way.
Categories:
brigantine, voyage,
Form: Rhyme
Life's waves washed me upon your Island shore
Tossed by rolling seas, a torn heart maroon
You found me, the sea and sand no more
Gave caring love in your sheltered lagoon
I had nothing, no jeweled treasure to share
No diamonds bright, rubies red, fragile heart
You clothed me in reason, a coat I wear
For this gift, a promise, we'll never part
My love though humble, is forever free
I place it well without reserve or fear
On your heart's altar, I leave a plea
And only ask, you keep it well my dear
Life had cast me from its brigantine deck
Now found, survivor of my heart's shipwreck
For the contest Islands
sponsored by Anthony Slausen
Categories:
brigantine, metaphor,
Form: Sonnet
Rowed upon a pond today
At least in my daydreams
Cast a line for trout or bass
Life’s never what it seems
The pole turned into harpoon line
My trout into a whale
My row boat to a brigantine
With well set billowing sail
Categories:
brigantine, children,
Form: Light Verse