Long Fore and aft Poems

Chapter 11 The Island Kingdom (f, continued...)

Near the north-most cape they passed, there
Lay the kingdom’s foremost city
By the name of Cannabarro
Here was found the royal palace

Of Ptolemy the Second.
In our time this city has the...

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Airship

How far I’ve flown I neither know nor care.
Much as this open deck my plans are bare.
Of star or compass I have nary need,
But follow as these downy cloud tops lead.

The chilly breezes toying through...

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In a corner of my room, where shadows dance so shy,
Lived a tiny little fly, beneath the crescent moon's eye.
Not a creature of grandeur or a beast of fright,
But a simple being, basking in the...

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Scripture asks us to love our neighbor.
But some think love comes without labor.
It's something we speak,
Not something we seek.
A fine cup of wine with no flavor.

Declarations of love make me laugh.
Without knowledge such words are...

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Body Casting

Standing there naked for all to stare
Or is it a pleasure to share
The days when before
Your body took a different shape and more.

A way of remembering the time
When pregnancy was progressing just fine
And your...

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I
Wishes that you find peace, the Hebrew Shalom
For it includes well-being, being WHOLE-some
One need not have religion when one has Shalom
So my deepest desire this Covid year, for everyone
To heal by sharing how you love...

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He left the boat tied fore and aft on the windward side of the ramp
It was low tide and kelp covered most of the low end
The usual crowd was watching his every move
Sitting there in...

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First one wave and then another
Tossed the boat from one side then the other
 
 The storm gripped the tiny craft
and the wind pushed the sail fore and aft.

 While in the stern the Lord...

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The Captain had a penny whistle 
Which he wore around his neck
And he played it every morning
As the crew danced on the deck.
Sometimes it was a Hornpipe
Sometimes a Palais Glide
As the crew danced fore and...

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© 2010 (Jim Sularz)

Heave Ho! Aweigh, the ship’s anchor,
Lads, climb-up, the tall ship’s masts!
Unfurl the sails white billowed,
all pray, the stiff trade winds blast!

Men briny from white-capped oceans,
Terra firma’s, a distant quest.
Feel the salt spray,...

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I think of sunsets I have seen
throughout my many years
from doorsteps where in quiet thought
I've laughed and wiped my tears.

The doorstep is a thinking spot
a place to share my day
with loved ones God has given...

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Her blinding boon kills Deer of old
and waxes swan beset;
down this cold rain of blue eyes sold 
till Luna's eye is met.

Cool yet wan, O whispering breeze,
bloom dreams from withered skies:
abiding hot, as conjured Freeze
brews...

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COLD    EVENING  PROBLEMS

Trying to stay warm in front of the fire
Draughts find their way to  my leg, waist or higher
Like little  cold water  trickles
They insist on touches and...

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Who am I today?
Husband, Father, Son or Brother
A noble thought that gives itself away,
Or some distant, self-obsessed Other?
What shape I don tomorrow
Who can say
If I shall move across my stage
Enacting joy or sorrow?

What tides shall...

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This day is not like any other day;
It has never been, nor ever will be
Again.
Though pregnant with eternal yesterdays
Touching all its tomorrows
It is all we ever have to hold and make our own
- Those others...

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Met some friends in Central Park,
A meeting overdue.
How wonderful to see them 
And catch up on all that’s new!

We strolled around the reservoir
Then found a place to sit – 
A shady bench with bushes,
Fore and...

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Descry

The schooner sailed upon the sea
Creating whispered waves below
I stood close by the crimson bow
In stillness near the quiet dawn
with no distractions save for gulls

The fore and aft sails moved as kin
The sun awoke resplendently
Awaiting...

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It starts with a little yawn,
then a stretch, both fore and aft.
Next the blankets start to move,
I just have to laugh.

She shuffles up from the bottom,
of the bed, where warm and snug,
she had slept the...

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 L  ovely metallic lady lost in Aisle Eight,
 O  n a rubbled spillway frightened and alone.
 V  ehicular damage on fore and aft flanks;
 E  legant figure now ravaged by...

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It's the fulcrum of a swing,
That concerts the plumb line string,
As its settling in phase,
To a point where it just stays...
And the forces become one,
So that balance is the sum,
Somewhere halfway in between,
Fore and aft...

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The Old Ship-Wright


I’ve held the stars in the palm of my hand
And ladled the sunrise where no man has been

I’ve forged my anchors from hellish fires
And planed fine teakwood that served the Queen’s tea

But now...

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Dawn breaks ruby red, windy day in sight.
Sailors scorning its warning, grab a bite
Pack their gear, rush to yacht, hoist sails upright.
Sea weathered mates, love to join the fight
Against wind and waves to drive yachts...

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We're on the highway, middle lane;
Some motorcycles pass.
The car in front slows down; my husband 
Presses on the gas

And eases left, right in the midst
Of Harleys fore and aft,
Not knowing that, in biker world, 
By...

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