Long Gangway Poems

PRELUDE
There has always been animosity between Greece and Turkey as far back in history as we wish to go.  Greece was occupied by the Turks during the Middle-Ages for almost 500 years.  My...

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NINETEEN FORTY TWO
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS


As a young man in Jersey I wanted to be a cop
One sunday morning that dream came to a stop
Our nation had been a victim of a vicious attack
By an aggressive...

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Sighing, he shouldered the old duffle bag
And followed others as they sauntered down the gangway
Free at last, from the ship's cramped and stench-filled quarters,
He smiled, at the crisp, fresh and bitingly cold, new day!

His feet,...

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I'm a Piketown son who left his mum
To sail the eastern shores
Spent a year in Gloucester
'mong the barkeeps and the whores

Then a man came 'round to Gloucester town
Said boys I need a few
Strapping lads such...

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All aboard the Fantasy M/S of Carnival
for half a week’s vacation time of fun and falderal.
Hear greetings from your captain, his director and the crew.
Ready, set, get going.  The Bahamas wait for you.

Bon Voyage!...

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Cloistered within the restroom stall
eavesdropping on my peers
soft whispers echo off tiled walls
revealing secrets, hidden tears

Somehow this restroom has become
a sordid confessional booth
a place of refuge, safe for some
to air their inner truth

Co-workers cluster, confiding...

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A story I read about war and good luck charms…..
The Good luck charm

Standing on the dock in front of the troop ship 
His mother hugged him and fussed about Straightening his hat and brushing his...

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We set sail as Reggae music played out on the Lido.
Our first night was casual; no need for tuxedo.
We could eat a pizza by the Windows On the Sea
or go beneath and dine on shrimp...

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Total estimated casualties, including civilians and Taliban 171,000 to 174,000 all in the cause of a very dubious war, returning Afghanistan to what it was 20 years before, and abandoning some of those  who...

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THE UNPLANNED JOURNEY
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS





I had a great breakfast gave a nice tip to the girl
I was late, had to swerve to avoid hitting a squirrel
I was really lucky when I crossed the yellow line
A...

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This is for all you trampled and forgotten
freezing in a hell not of your making
inching your way up the ethereal gangway
jockeying for rank and recognition
among the heavens the aristocracy
the drooling two headed priesthood 
cheap seat...

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			Naked death


…the barred and sealed cattle wagons
							disgorge
at the Konzentrazionslager
						            the faux pas relief
    from urine mud faeces sweat and tears
unkempt armpits...

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First sighting

It was an early summer morning when my best friend Edwin 
threw pebbles on my window to wake me up
I like morning slumber, waking up at six, looking at the alarm
the clock on the...

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Haiti is a basket case.

They marched him down the gangway by 
the feared Tonton Macoute, armed men dressed in Hawaii shirts
and slacks, partly concealing their guns
The young thief shivered, I thought they were going to...

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Deployment

We stand here in our small groups
Talking nervously
How I handle who I am
Is now all up to me

Our duffles are all neatly stacked
I hear the muffled din
While waiting for the sergeants call
“All right troops, let’s...

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After two years in the Tonkin Gulf during Vietnam, I was stationed in the Philippines. I was 
invited for lunch aboard an Australian destroyer by the ship’s captain. They were getting 
underway for the gun...

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Ageism 
Summer is always hot in the valley the sea breeze does not reach here. 
I have a fan blowing shifting the air giving the impression of cooling the air.
By all means we are prosperous...

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Mary Marion Williams, is one of twenty three,
rescued and surviving the North Atlantic sea,
Fate is a fickle friend, to have upon your side, 
For if destiny is written, there’s no need to have a guide.

Mary...

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A light wind gently rocks our sailboat as
breezes begin to pick up on the sun drenched dock. 
Cable wires rap and tap upon the mast as
daylight filters thinly through the clouds. 
Egrets begin to peck...

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stars,
above swirling dark,
in sky drained of color,
below,
sprawling Asia,
spread out in a carpet,
of billboards and humanity.
watching it all from the world's largest tower,
feeling like a king in a secondhand sky,
now walking among streets, stalls, and stooped...

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I donned my best Sunday working coveralls
Plopped the hardhat on my waiting head.
Just another twelve hours of service rendered
To an employer who cares not if im live or dead

Ive seen days and months and years...

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Like silent sentries
in a row
the pylon docks
await my arrival.
It is low tide as I
step onto the
gangway.
Crusty barnacles
cling tenaciously 
to the pylons
as salt sea water
laps the rocky 
shoreline.

A lanky blue heron
carefully picks
it's way
between the fingers 
of...

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Down on the pier, the midmorning bright,
Thronged wives, husbands, lovers,
And sons, friends, young daughters,
All eyes perusing the grand and gray ship
In long-simmered hope of glimpsing one face,
One much-beloved grin, among antsy sailors
Arrayed in white jumpers...

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Early rising, toddlers sleeping,
got to get them out of bed.
Shake them gently,tired eyes peeping,
dress them quickly, get them fed.
Bags are packed, time is tight,
got to make the airport run.
Catching an early morning flight
for two weeks...

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Light of heart, and with dancing eyes,         
I gripped my Johnny’s strong right arm      
And faced a swelling sunlit sea  ...

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