Dock of the Cosmic Bay
Did Sun Ra think in holographic time/
past and future turning on one wheel/ Saturn ringing like a cymbal beneath Marshall Allen’s horn and its cosmic cry/
The Arkestra boarded freight trains of sound/ smoking rails through midnight skies/
robes bright with Egyptian constellations/ saxophones splitting the dark into day gigs of wonderment/
Then Otis rose from the Georgia gospel/
His voice is rough as rope/ warm as bread/
singing from the Dock of the Bay where silence waits/ and every wave remembers the dead/
One built a vessel out of thunder and space time/
One made heartbreak a soulful testimony/
Both knew Earth was only a classroom/
Space is the place/ Soul time music was the reason why/
When time has officially ended/the stars lean close to hear what/
Sun Ra's Arkestra drifting across the water, a cosmic chord dissolving fear/
Space is the place/
Otis Redding's Soul music is the way/
And love/ the oldest spacecraft/
carries us beyond today.
Of arranging Holy jailbreaks, and stealing people..Away from this world.'
A tilt off the sand
unfolding of the mast
water beats her in the wind
her footprints left in the surf
the seagull's scavenging
shells lay still in stillbirth
sailing
spearing
seaweed
A tilt off the sand —
the seagull's scavenging,
seaweed
The old wooden dock
I might be an old rickety dock but I promise you won’t regret spending an hour on my premises..so come aboard, tackle box in tow, bring the kids, coffee in hand, be aware of “snappy the turtle” as he likes to hang out underneath.
Get your lines in the water, bring your chair, take the load off, after all it’s Sunday, where else have you got to be? The fish, Turtles, are all awaiting your arrival, so be prepared to stay awhile…
Make a friend, cheer each other on, enjoy a laugh together, it can be pretty crowded on here, but we’re all here as one.
A father teaching his little tike to fish for his or hers first time, time will pause, pike, bass, sunfish, or the one that got away. Pretty soon it will be winter, the water will freeze, but my sturdy dock will always hold sturdy waiting for you, please don’t be a stranger, come again soon.
On Strike On The Dock
I didn’t have time today.
I was shopping very late.
People went on Strike.
Run for your lives.
Let's raid the grocery stores.
They bought up all of the toilet paper.
Let’s just panic.
Wemight run out of ass wipes.
O’ my.
Just trying to survive.
Raid the dollar store.
At gunpoint, that's my toilet paper roll.
This is madness.
How long will this last?
Everyone needs to chill out.
I guess we ran out of paper towels too
Early morning and the gantry cranes
at Webb Dock look like long necked
dinosaurs lining up to drink from the river -
and the sky is aglow as it might have been
when tinged by the first hint of that asteroid
slamming into Yucatan on the other side
of the world 66 million years ago.
This is 2025 and no asteroid threatens
our fragile planet, yet more subtle
things do - things that reside in the dark
precincts of the human soul that pour
out pollution and in silos and undersea,
stoke embers that could at anytime
break free and incinerate us all.
I was sitting on the dock of the bay listening to a song
when Otis Redding happened to come walking along.
He said, "You watching the ships roll in?"
I said, "Yeah, and then watching ‘em roll away again."
He said, "That stuff's really dug by some,
but I think it’s all pretty much ho-hum."
• Such a fancy grandfather clock
• Standing in the center of the manor
• She bought from some guy at the dock
• For a little over $30
The clocktower that we chose to climb
Had ten minutes before it would chime
First up was the winner
The loser bought dinner
The outcome was a race against time
The dark wood stretching from the shore,
nearby a rack filled with long oars,
ducks swim nearby in a long row,
towards the rocky beach they go.
Underfoot the dock shifts and sways,
responding to the gentle waves,
a little boy peers as the fish
zip underneath with a tail swish.
Old tires posted on each side,
so that boat hulls will not collide,
and bang up their expensive hulls,
right now they’re sporting lazy gulls.
Wood ladder nailed on to the end
for swimmers to return again...
I set my chair on this small peer,
to spend some quiet hours here.
Hey look, there’s an eagle…
Doctor Mcklosky for speaking of truth, mic muted by a judge?
Who sides with un-sooth? Not a doctor to refute her.?? I
Must take it in ( yet a minion of saturn ) in robes black as sin.' Taking no heed of (one hundred thousand dr's more)
Has denied Derry's people by applying un-law full of false
Gravitas is this person no doubt!! Ensconsed in affluence
With a hard dirty snout, immersed in the trough now thats
My (take away) can you beleive how far lifes fallen? Yet
Let Derry's people have last say.!
As twilight’s veil begins to gently lift,
The fading grays give way to golds and blues.
And colors mark the waves as shadows shift,
Reflective of a new horizon’s hues.
Yet gazes fixed on distant unseen springs,
Omit the moment’s splendor cast aside.
While thoughts are lost on what tomorrow brings,
The fleeting now is taken by the tide.
But wakeful are the winds that blow from night,
Just as the sun extends its arms of gold.
Embrace the gift of this day’s morning light,
For it alone escapes tomorrow’s hold.
Surrender not one moment to the clock;
And catch the coming sunrise at the dock.
- the rest of the story for Hickory Dickory Dock -
Hickory dickory dock,
The mouse wound the clock,
At half past twelve
The clock said it was one
And so the clock was wrong
Hickory dickory dock
The mouse wound the clock,
With each twist it smiled,
Knowing this clock would decide,
When its cheese would arrive!
Hickory dickory dock
The mouse wound the clock,
Gaining over an hour,
So the cheese wouldn’t sour,
Hickory dickory dock!
Hickory Dickory Dock
The captain ran up the deck,
When the storm rocked the ship.
The sailors swayed losing grip.
Hickory Dickory Dock
Hickory Dickory Dock
With no one to direct, the ship hit a rock
Into deep waters, it started to sink.
All got drowned before they could wink.
Hickory Dickory Dock
Hickory Dickory Dock,
The mouse hushed up the clock.
But Cuckoo caught him by his tail,
Now mouse is serving time in jail.
Until once more the clock will chime,
And with both hands, the march of time
Then mouse might leave his prison cell,
However, only time will tell.
When parole, could be his saviour,
Quick release, for good behaviour.
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.