True happiness resides within each of us
We alone are responsible for our own well being
It is so easy to blame external forces, people, or events
But the bottom line is, we're the ones steering the ship
We're the Captain, the First Mate
Right down to the deckhand swabbing the deck
So here's my advise to all you nice people
Always, always think positive
The dark days are only temporary
Believe me, life is always about ups and downs
Endure the bad days... enjoy the good days
There is no plum-colored ermine trimmed cloak to be worn,
and no one's pen is a royal scepter which gems will adorn.
Poets are just ordinary people whose creations are born
from their creative thoughts when hearts are joyful or torn.
There is no regal king to obey when he makes a demand,
nor an army to do his bidding when he barks out a command.
No captains are needed to shout orders. We're all a deckhand.
Court jesters at midnight hour, dipping quills in an inkstand.
So, whether your name is Don Juan, Petunia Pig, or Lil Wayne,
none of us should be proclaiming we're flying the airplane
If it's a throne any of you seek, your attempted coup is in vain.
I only speak for myself when I advocate for "No Purple Reign."
Is he a Poofter?
I was reading “An American Tragedy” by Theodore Dreiser
reading slowly because the writer proceeded slowly in his writing
It was eleven at night; I was going to bed when I had finished a chapter;
when there was a knock on my cabin door, the deckhand
stood there looking shy; I asked him what he wanted, and apparently
he had run out of cigarettes; I didn’t believe him and asked who had sent him;
he didn’t answer but hurriedly left
It appeared the former chief steward was gay, now the boy was sent up
by the crew to see if I was gay too
A cargo ship is a cosmos of gossip and pornographic magazines
when there was a perfect library with books changed by a welfare origination
the literature was of a high standard, this was an effort to educate and brighten
the mind of seamen
Alas, I was not social, sitting in mess halls playing cards and telling risqué jokes,
spent my free time in my cabin surrounded by books and dreams of a better life.
A better life came when illness ended my career and
I was free to find my own way in life.
I am an old man
a deep well
an epoch marriage
a raven haired beauty
five above average kids
Orion deckhand and cook
teacher of the year
Bible study leader
jail preacher
song worship leader
NAU graduate --graduate school
ASU graduate --undergraduate school
life guard
breakfast cook
English tutor
Archie Brokeshoulder's well puller
grain elevator operator
pizza chef
dishwasher
mental hospital patient
prisoner
welder
all region linebacker
wrestler
pole vaulter
3 high schools
4 jr highs
2 elementary schools
8 states
2 dads
5 moms
6 sisters
4 brothers
13 presidents
I am an old man
I'll swim a mile
this morning
and dance
all night
golf tomorrow
backpack Europe
visit kids in Montana
come back to Arizona
visit kids in Kentucky
do more Europe
come back to Arizona
swim and golf
then who knows
India, Nepal, Tibet
I am an old man
looking for something
Death of a young man
There is a schooner in the bay flags on half mast
a crew member had fallen from the top of the mast
and since the ship had no freezer he had been
buried at sea. This reminded me of the deckhand
on a boat, I was on he fell down and empty hold
got up insisted he was ok, but the captain called
an ambulance and two hours later he was dead,
At eighteen his passing was senseless. I hoped
his mother had more children to console her which
she wouldn`t have had had she been caught up
In the abortion debate believing it was ok only
having one child. Abortion is the quickest way to
depopulate a country; the Israeli knows this and
give black Jews a pill so they can abort, they want
European Jews of the type who becomes good
soldiers and belief in their supremacy.
The Umbrella
It was a rainy sort
Of afternoon, when I crossed
The bridge didn`t notice
Half it was missing.
Held on to my brolly when I fell
Parachuted landed on a barge.
They needed a deckhand.
The sea was a black mirror, the cook
Was artistic and pissed we only had
Bacon butties that day
I gave the collapsible canopy to the first mate
It was green and covered
In seagull droppings
Ahoy, matey!
Welcome aboard me ship,
Me would have met ye at the airport
But, I've got meself a broken hip.
Me crew, they be drunk
Me parrot's got the sh!ts,
Me wooden leg got caught on a rusty nail
Me woman's got a hairy lip.
I'm sorry to have to tell ye matey
But, ye have to swab the deck,
Me crew have all fallen asleep
Me deckhand has a broken neck.
We all be sore losers
Trying to find me gold,
It's buried out there somewhere
Me'd find it, if me didn't have this cold.
Copyright Cynthia Jones
July.11/2006
True happiness resides within each of us
We alone are responsible for our own well being
It is so easy to blame external forces, people, or events
But the bottom line is, we're the ones steering the ship
We're the Captain, the First Mate
Right down to the deckhand swabbing the deck
So here's my advise to all you nice people
Always, always think positive
The dark days are only temporary
Believe me, life is always about ups and downs
Endure the bad days... enjoy the good days
© Jack Ellison 2014
Thar be me captain
The leader of my crew.
He is a mighty man
Bold, Strong, and True.
I be his shipmate
The cook, swab, and crew.
I am but his deckhand
Loving, Affectionate, and True.
In me belly be our seed
The mascot of our trade.
He is but a boy now
A symbol of a love that will never fade.