AHOY!
It’s not a foregone conclusion,
but a stinging reality: Even porcupines
master love, without making pain
a subsidiary organism:-
Though the pain of love's waves
may froth ashore, waves will recede
and froth will eventually dissipate
with healing evaporation: Leaving a sea
of memories floating on the ocean of life:-
Thoughtfully watered, always keep in mind,
you’re the captain of your soul, and
the blown wind in its sail:- And remember,
though docked and anchored, you can still
set sails for tomorrow—getting ready today:-
Ahoy, Matey! Be in winds of sailing grace:-
Oh wifey, dear and darling.
Whom, I thought I linked my life.
Ran off, with our scheming mailman.
In the middle of last night.
Same one who brought the letter.
Showed, I'm fired from my job.
The boss, who docked my pay, and left me saddened, riddled, robbed.
She did use up that money, to buy an escalade.
Then ran my dog quite over, near the ending of last may.
After this, I tried the beach, bury my troubles in the sand.
Only issue was, I have an allergy to crab.
Now I'm sitting here at home, on my couch, I owe two payments.
Things are looking sorta bleak, and everything's so tight.
Perhaps I'll make my fortune, going on the Price Is Right.
It’s not the pirate queen we fear
nor the father pirate king
but have you met their parrot?
He is the snarkiest, meanest thing
Scrappy and short, but ready to fight
He has torn up a cat or two, he has some might
One time they docked near another clipper ship
That pirate did not hesitate to use a bull whip
He is the meanest creature on the seven seas.
I would rather jump into a wolf den, breaking both my knees.
So, he is rather terrible? The listener asked, in one way or another.
Oh, yes, the speaker said. I know because he is my little brother.
Ahoy, there sailor- where have you been
Lost offshore- the sea of green?
Have you docked your vessel onto the land
By the beach that's covered with white-like sand
Where the ladies bathe their tanning skin
I'd bet your trousers that's where you've been
what is the public business of this country?
is it not the private business of each citizen?
Why forbid our civil liberties when we exercise
them as long as they don’t bother anyone?
Nowadays if your ship comes in it is docked
by the government. Its my opinion the main
vice many of us have consists, not in doing evil
but in permitting it.
We are no longer the ones who chose our
politicians. The rich have bought and
paid for them. May Heaven protect our citizens
if we do nothing about saving our constitution
AT THE PORT OF AMAZING GRACE
On a remote isle of
emotional consciousness
wandering undulating waves
kiss shores sanded with keloid memories
reflecting a journey sailed over whirlwind waters
of testing currents of life that battered my faithful ship of hope
that is now docked at the disembarking horizon of God’s great
port of amazing grace: its bells ringing love and clanging liberty:-
From this space station, Sherman's Planet is in proximity.
However, the Klingons claim it's within their sovereignty.
One of their ships has arrived and docked recently.
Their are many of those obnoxious aliens roaming freely.
This was an absolutely unexpected confrontation.
I have a feeling there will be an inevitable altercation.
A trader name Cyrano Jones has brought a curious creature.
They are tiny, and cuddly animals with a furry feature.
They purr like kittens and are the center of fascination.
However, their big downside it their over-proliferation.
Tribbles hate Klingons, and Klingons don't like them too.
I wonder what will happen to Kirk and his Enterprise crew?
Based on the episode "The Trouble With Tribbles" of the original "Star Trek" series.
Speedster ranks fully stocked
The Barmy Army's flocked
Baz Ball glock fully cocked
BUT
Hilariously knocked vicariously docked
Variously rocked nefariously socked
Tell still reeling from feeling shell shocked
SO
Even with the WACA's gates locked
Snazzy Baz jazz's been blocked
Ben's men buzz has been mocked
WHY
Travis seriously deliriously peacocked!
Tick tock where clocks turn back
Each hand for hand me back
Two times for going to that
Back track for hour's at
Docked time for landing on
What hour's erased for gone
Stopped time for haven't had
Not time for doing nad
First time for being said
Next time an hour's dead
Lost time for being there
No time for repeat wear
Host time for living well
Changed time for living Hell
The night was very dark,
the rough seas gave out a bark.
Would our small boat the Ark,
make it in these tall waves or stay in park?
Then we spotted the light,
it was small and not bright.
Just a blink of white,
then out of site.
We finally got docked,
were told the lighthouse could not be unlocked.
It was haunted many would say,
we know the truth about that day.
1974 and the Guardian newspaper
On a ship, where I was employed, docked
In Lisbon, a few days after the Carnation Revolution
The air was full of anticipation
I took a double-decker bus to the town center
A throng of cheerful people filled the narrow streets
At a paper stall, pornographic mags had moved in
getting the most out of newfound freedom
I ate Fesjoada tras montania (bean stew), drank
a bottle of Sagres beer, and later walked around
streets, but with so much noise, I bought
The Guardian newspaper, which I thought was
a harbinger of the truth
Back then, The Guardian was a fresh, brave paper,
These days, it is rather staid in the political line
pro-American, but it is still a better paper
than the Ghastly "Sun" and the Sunday papers
I still read that paper online, which has good art pages
But politically, we parted ways a long time ago
Why, I wonder long…
For cracks on heels he be mocked--
A thing all so wrong
That one is heavily docked--
Who, on path of values walked.
______________________
Tanka (Senryu + couplet) |12.09.2025 | irony, values, world
The walking stick and Elon Musk
I was a galley-boy on an old tankship
that docked in Liverpool for repair
I think it was in May, and I was sixteen
at a second-hand shop, near the docks
I bought a walking stick and happily used it
the stick going ashore to the pub or
to buy fish and chips, unaware of how odd
I must have looked, no one said a word
Coming back on board, it was the second
The officer who said I looked ridiculous, no one
uses walking sticks anymore, you are not
a ing lord
Enter, into my self-contained world, what
other people thought of me
I became self-conscious, and it worried me
What did other people think of me personally
His words brought on a shyness that stopped
My plans for the future
Who knows, I might have become the first
Elon Musk
He has freed himself of what other people
think, or so we believe, but deep down, he
likes to be loved
No glamour here in the South Bay
where function and industry reign
just an occasional seagull is seen
gliding over steel grid power lines.
Daily westerly winds whistle
swaying a small fleet of sailboats
buoys bob along a mariner’s course
as he navigates the currents.
Ships of all shapes and sizes
quietly line the edges of the bay
docked or moored in place
patiently waiting their turn at sea.
An unearthly silence lingers
around the salt flats that arise
staking their claim at the south shore
a monument to the “bitter end”.
It is peaceful here…without pretense
where the hum of traffic is heard
endlessly moving along an offramp
while the random seagull flies above.
Within our heart, a fierce fire raged,
a burning yearning to be free
from our mind, where we were caged,
that soul may dwell on earth carefree.
We knew there’s more to us than this,
striving being of no avail,
so in darkness of fear’s abyss,
we chose all thought forms to derail.
We shut mind’s door yet ego knocked,
begging our soul to be let in
but we were then in bliss mists docked,
deaf to mind’s cacophonous din.
We saw our Self as living light,
heart joyous in drunken delight.
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.