Her three tall masts pierce through the gray,
Where swells of sapphire rise and fall;
She rides the deep in grand display,
Answering the high sea's wild, cold call.
Her canvas full, each sail blown tight,
Stretched firm beneath a heavy breeze,
She carves her way with graceful might,
Across the rolling, restless seas.
With rhythmic ease, the waters swell,
And lift her dark frame toward the sky,
While white-capped crests surrounding tell
Of rolling deeps as she glides by.
From high atop the crow’s nest railing,
A lookout spots gray shadows near—
A pod of whales, majestic, sailing
Beside the hull without a fear.
At helm stands Captain Jack, steadfast,
His weathered hand upon the wheel,
Reflecting on her storied past
And every seam of iron and steel.
Born in the fires of sea-bound lore,
Rebuilt from ash, reclaimed from fate,
The Black Pearl haunts the coast once more,
A ghost of legend, proud and great.
Life comes at you fast.
Take the helm and ride the storm.
AP: 1st place 2026
he has super strength, agility, endurance
but his most admirable assets are in his empathy
He has a heart for others, a love for country
He wants things to be fair, even and just
Captain America, a symbol of our honor and duty
He has been around since the forties, showing us the way
Exhibiting integrity, tolerance and compassion
His courage is legend, as is his ability to put others first
he shows us the way, like almost no other
although a comic book character, he has become real
many of us strive to become half the man he was
I would like to have his reaction time and self-healing
blind Captain Cat sits
by his window listening,
seeing everything
Captain Jack decided to take his celebration
inside a warm tub, where he could enjoy his libation
The suds soothed his overly dry old bones so much
He rested his head, his fists unclutched
He listened to the trick-or-treaters outside
knowing in the morning he would no longer hide
for Day of the Dead is a day that skeletons can roam around
Without anyone screaming or making a mean bullying sound
Skeletons are only welcome a few times a year
Halloween, they are accepted a teensy bit
but on November first when they appear
the festival yells out an exuberant cheer
Captain mouse steered his motorboat around the bend
Enchanted Forest and inlet stream did not seem to end
he felt sorry for others who have neither freedom or boat
He let his steed idle, enjoying the river as they continued to float
While my son was rock-climbing,
I was running
on wet pavement
back home,
considering the clouds
and the mishappen happenings
of this January day, and myself.
The birds were awake and twittering
because there were plentiful
worms for the taking
and it was worth singing over.
I read that the blue whales
don’t sing much anymore.
The krill swam farther away,
to cooler water.
There isn’t strength for singing
when you are starving.
Tick-tock, tick-clock goes the clock
when every second counts,
not just for Captain Hook
and his sentence of doom:
an alligator’s gaping jaws.
Captain Ahab
did try to stab
or, tried to prick
his Moby Dick!
Captain Ahab is a character and one of the protagonists in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick
In a window with a bellrope ready sits old blind Captain Cat
calling in the day, with his old yarns wagging on the door mat.
He hears the postman's rat-a-tat, kids' feet skipping on cobble stones,
all the secrets leaking out windows, in furtive dulcet tones.
Dylan Thomas's beloved character 'Captain Cat', in the radio play for voices 'Under Milk Wood'.
I'm Captain Hokum of the British Admiralty.
May I offer you a spot of tea
and tell you of my master plan
conceived in the Sea of Japan?
I set a bottle adrift, afloat,
and included in it a nifty note
which read: "If you find this vial or urn,
put in one sixpence,and return".
We settled in for the long flight home,
the loud noise got our attention.
Dinner was served with a smile,
then the captain came on.
We blew out our tires on take off,
now for an emergency landing.
One Brief Unforgettable Moment.
The old captain retired
At 65, he had skippered the ship
for ten years
and was at a loss as to what to do
The first officer was in his new
uniform to take the command
He had noticed the old man
coming on the bridge
In the morning, opened a drawer
He only had the key to
Curious, the new master opened
it, and on a folded sheet of paper
was written
Starboard is right
Portside is left
Every morning that he rises
He picks up his shield with a smile upside down
The shield is heavier than all the tanks it has stopped
For it carries the weight of every world he's sworn to protect
He hates the shield
He sees it as a burden
An invitation to be killed
A chance to get shot once more
Depressed or not
There has never been a day he didn't lift the shield up
He lifts it up no matter what
Determined to save the life of another man
The shield is a symbol
A flag that represents
Not the fights he has gone through
Nor the victories he has seen
But the courage it takes, to lift that god damn shield UP!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A man in a vast coat-pocket universe
Captain Kangaroo was what they called him first.
His beard could shelter squirrels or a misplaced key;
the children leaned in close—but how did Grandpa get free?
Mr. Green Jeans always knew
Kangaroo's pockets held sticky glue,
a rogue banana peel, two lost keys,
and Bunny Rabbit's unpaid fees.
His mute friend Moose, that nodding sage,
new chaos filled each television stage:
Grandfather Clock chiming upside-down,
Tom Terrific losing his paper crown.
But when the Captain tipped his hat,
the mess dissolved—just like that.
No rhyme nor reason, a tidy end?
just magic tricks, and a gentle friend.
People can try to encourage us
they can nudge and prod like concerned parents
But there comes a time when we realize
we are ultimately the creators of our own destiny
And that is a day of reckoning
Of crossing a bridge of no return
It’s when we realize that we are responsible
The “I” is the conductor, the maestro.
I am the only one who can motivate myself
to be the best person that I can be
It has to be a desire from deep within
strong enough to fire a drive on a daily basis
I have to survey all my options and decide
I’m the one to find a goal worthy of my passion
I need to learn the constellations and draw my map
I’m ultimately the ship captain of my journey
AP: 2nd place 2025
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