Would you give me the chance to die
Don’t get your panties in a heap
I am not speaking of suicide
A coward’s unwritten obit
Now informed, would you
Please read on a bit
You granted me the chance to live
From stem to stern
Top to bottom, lessons unlearned
I botched it up
Perennials failures
Overflowing my wretched cup
Traversing through the mire of chaos
No signatures of color or smell
You would think it be sickly black or red
And stinking of Satan’s Hell
Well, you would be wrong
Join the club of the blinded mind
The wise one called Paul,
You knew him well
Declared—
To die is gain
Can you not grant me one wish
Putting an end to interminable pain
To know with a fleeting glimpse
Better comes with my final breath
Leaving behind a life made of mess
Would you give me the chance
Ere dry is the ink from poet’s pen
Ere the last bit of marrow slain
Give me the chance, dear God
To taste the gain
From stem to stern
This ship sails across the ocean
It’s helm turns it’s rudder
Always in your direction
Both lost in this bottle, out at sea
I send this message to you
Hoping it will find you
Below in our cabin
I lay with you
Turning on your lighthouse light
Spinning it around and around
As the water flows above
Through the cabin porthole
I hear a yell from up above
Land ahoy it’s loud and clear
The anchor is placed deep into the sea
This storm of thunder
With Lighting flashing I gaze down upon you
The last sound that is heard
You whispering into my ear
I love you
Setting sails upon the sea
All to wonder what will be
Only the ship will sail
Treasured in a mythical tale.
She has beauty but turns her love to the sea
An endless journey taken, pledged to be free
Not stricken by fear, she scales the thunderous waves
She hails the prevailing winds, it’s all she craves.
Keeping pace and breaking the waves that roll
Her endeavors rest upon her soul
The horizon fades, clouds consume the evening sky
Visions become dim as the night draws nigh.
The moon’s glow will lighten the way
Winds from the west increase the sway
Turnbuckles on ropes tighten the slack
Constellations steer, holding her on track.
Swiftly sailing beneath her guiding lights
Her grace admired from distant sights.
Steadfast and cordial from stem to stern
Waves ripping from the bow that churns.
T’was the sea that fulfilled her joy
Journeyed in solitude maintaining her coy
Beyond all myths, exquisite was she
Her name was liberty, sailing at sea.
Lord, I pantoum you on this day,
another day just like the rest.
I simply woke and ate today;
kept warm and dry, in comfort, dressed.
Another day, just like the rest.
I worked and played, then soundly slept.
Kept warm and dry, in comfort, dressed.
I saw and heard, ran, walked and stepped.
I worked and played, then soundly slept.
I tasted, smelled and keenly felt.
I saw and heard, ran, walked and stepped;
with my concerns, I calmly dealt.
I tasted, smelled and keenly felt.
I loved, was loved back in return.
With my concerns, I calmly dealt;
a plain old day from stem to stern.
I loved, was loved back in return.
Forgive me, Lord, you've spoiled me!
A plain old day from stem to stern?
Oh, how ungrateful can I be?
Forgive me, Lord, you've spoiled me.
Your miracle of life I hold.
Oh, how ungrateful can I be?
You've blessed me with your gifts untold.
Your miracle of life I hold!
I simply woke and ate today?
You've blessed me with your gifts untold.
Lord, I pantoum you on this day.
Sandra M. Haight
~1st Place~
Contest: Lord, I Pantoum You
Sponsor: James Edward Lee, Sr.
Judged: 06/16/2018
I’ve never been a fortune teller
Or had a crystal ball
I only know the here and now
And a past that says it all!
Every time they took something out
They put a new something in
It made me run much better
Enough spare parts to make a twin!
But all those constant repairs
Left scars from stem to stern
So, when I leave my body to science
I wonder what they will learn…
For I do know this, without a doubt
And feel not a tinge of guilt
When the sheet is first pulled back…
I’ll look just like a patchwork quilt!
Bags and bags of rolls of
Wrapping paper sat in piles
By the curb as passersby
Revealed their New York guiles.
The store must not have had the room
To keep them for a year,
So why not spread the wealth around
And help them disappear?
Some people grabbed a handful
Which looked very Christmasy;
Three rolls with smiling snowmen
Seemed appropriate for me.
The takers grinned and marveled
At this unexpected gift.
I wonder, then, how many,
Once at home, were slightly miffed…
For close inspection showed each roll
Was slit from stem to stern,
Reminding me that nothing’s free,
A lesson I should learn.
To look a gift horse in the mouth
Is never deemed correct,
But there are times that certain gifts
Are ones we should reject.
There was a courtly gent name Hearn.
Who was fastidious from stem to stern.
He showered morning and night.
Kept his teeth pearly white.
But couldn't find a wife worth a durn.
" My oh My "
Hell'sBells & a cockleshell~
Off I sail like a bat-outta-hell~
Flyin' her hulls now I'll be damned~
Into fat tanker I've now rammed!
Could’na see in dead o'night~
My oh my & oh what a sight!
Me hull she's split from stem to stern~
Me helm now nowhere left to turn~
Reckon 'tis time to spread me wings~
To think of giggles & feath'ry things~
Up up up & away~
Off to sky I'll go this day!
'Tis well what now hath befallen me~
Rid thus so of tempestuous sea~
Sailing high... well far aloft~
Adrift midst clouds o'dreams well soft~
SeaWolf
©
Billowy mast with fluttering sails
Along copse strand your arched brow wails
Brigand bough stretching from stem to stern doth vigor extoll
Your steady rudder anchored to the tenuous shoal
Your searching roots navigate through availing streams
Nutrient-rich moisture funnels through your porthole
Sprouting tendrils spurt through your balmy seams
Gallant pennants on your burnished deck stroll
Your brackish-green banner with new luster beams
From each slender trelis, a fruitful pod springs
Lance-like talons form arcing shield that in the soaring breeze swings
In the swaying breeze, each pleated eave solemnly sings
A plush perch your feathery reams dole
A quilted cover for all who under your velvety loft troll
I felt utterly sapped to the core
that glorious August day
and hence decided to take a rest
under a massive shade tree
While in such a meditative
and carefree oblivious state
a sticky globule of gooey tar
oozed loose from a topmost branch
and headed straight for me
Unbeknownst to this fine fellow
(rooted in rough hewn
paul bunyanesque virtue from stem to stern)
my fate would shortly be sealed
without any rhyme or resin
whereby only some accidental discovery
the only bark of a chance
that could cast this fledgling poet free
In short shrift the whimsical spree
to catch at least one hundred winks
found unexpected immobility to flee
thenceforth to become a human specimen
trapped scores of eons
for future eyes of the curious to see.
I just returned
From where I've been.
From here to there,
And back again.
I saw everything,
From A to Z,
Across this land,
From sea to sea.
From upside-down,
To inside out.
From stem to stern.
From tail to snout.
From east to west;
From north to south.
I earned my bread--
From hand to mouth.
From low to high,
From white to black.
I've been everywhere
And I'm going back.
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