Long Shipmates Poems

Author's note: This is not intentionally a historical piece, dear readers, but I thought I should probably add a bit of background info primarily for the benefit of my more international friends and colleagues on...

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Through maritime miles of minions and mirth
My life is a wash for the sake of my birth
My song is the surf and my sigh is the sea
Oh what can be done for the dreamer in...

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Here we are in 1650, which is ten minutes to five
swing the wheel to the West, which is left,
put your sun cream away, man the mizzen and the stays
as we set off for some murder...

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In spite of the way I was doomed in the past
I might have resumed all my duties at last
The ship captain's daughter who killed for a lark
Was tossed overboard in the path of a shark...

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Thru maritime miles of meals and mates
I posed as a pirate for polishing plates
For singing a song of the surf and the sea
I traded my turf for a tempest of tea

I had to be strong...

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The hustle and the bustle of the port is all around
The shouting of the merchants quoting prices by the pound 
The throwing of supplies over gunwales is all but done
The time has come for us...

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Before the eye of god

Soloman bore the thunder of the crashing waves,                       ...

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The wind billows out from the seat of his britches
With determined blue eyes, skinned knuckles and knees
he climbs up the rails nailed from old cedar pieces
to the uppermost yoke of an old pecan tree

He is...

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So Far From Home
Under a curving shimmering blue fish bowl sky the small Patrol Torpedo boat cruises gentle summer swells in the distant Pacific, under summer skies torn apart by brutal bitter total war. 
Small...

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Amidst the tempestuous waters and dreams
Some argue we are all linked by similar streams
Yet, I disagree, as countless distinct ships,
Cross those raging waters, reaching for grips.

Attestive people travel on ocean vessels
In terms of style and...

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I'm squirming in a chair of oak,
with narrow arms.  My buttocks numb,
and all the while the clock ticks on.

While folks are grim, with furrowed brows,
'We're all lined up in two long rows
of growing thirst,...

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Fascinated by the dark waters—what lies beneath the harried waves? Cold clings with liquid silk and seaweed; her tail impresses, her flippant lips drown sailors. They smile for the camera, teeth white as their sails....

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When the day dwindles pale...with my tall mug of ale
I'm a weepy ole' fool , it is quite plain to see 
I'll  shed many a tear ore'  the wee smallest thing
I am known...

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Written: May 20, 2024

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Siren stunningly sprung a sanguine sway
sailboat sheaths spread, and storms swell 
splendid summer shorelines spike
summertime spousal...

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Anne Bonny- Pirate

Anne Bonny preferred the pirate’s life
She turned her back on being a wife
And cleverly hid her womanhood 
In buccaneer’s guise ignoring all good
She sailed the seas as gallantly as the rest
Sadistic and callous,...

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He sang of the wreck of 1975
Memorializing sailors who didn't survive 
Honouring heroes in the story he tells
Visiting the cathedral still ringing its bells
29 chimes every year for their souls
The Mariners church where the solemn...

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The ship of them is no made of fancy materials,
‘Twas made of light materials that can be teared by just one blow.
Yet it soared strong to every blow
Not because of what the ship was made,...

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Shipmates headed to town on a Saturday night
Ready to party, ready to fight
Passing a bar, I said Let’s stop by
There’s a barmaid inside who had caught my eye
Local boy said I saw what you did
You...

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Sitting on the old black oak, where we used to fish together,
lost in the past, I think back, and remember a better day.
You wrote to me about your new ship, and new friends,
and your new...

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Well, here I am again… at my crossroads
I can tell they are mine
The marker I.D. reads “Between a rock and a hard place”

“What a shameful disgrace
As usual, I am not alone
We are not born alone
So,...

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A Lady Waits

The sleepy sea massages a creaking ship which slowly navigates
through blackness the sky emanates and the great Atlantic integrates.
A sailing school of serenading seagulls dips and dives and celebrates,
and amongst the sea-sick shipmates,...

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Above a great big sea of blue,
I saw a dragon, and he flew
while breathing fire into the air.
He saw our ship, and this I swear:
with claws he broke our ship in two.

How sharp those claws!...

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Masters of theft
Morally retarded
With devious stealing methods
For people, today they steal
From them, tomorrow they steal

Skewing the popular concept of morality
The execuTHIEVES among rodents
Leading players in series of shocking scandals
With gross misconducts running the gamut of...

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I'm squirming in my chair of oak
with narrow arms, and folks lined up
in two long rows of growing thirst
and hunger for a breath of air

Like sardines in a can of worms
we are strange, unlikely shipmates...

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Wind filled sails drives his command,
A salty breeze chisels his face.
The crew obeys his every demand,
Master of the sea stands in his place.

Sailing South to all virgin lands,
Heading's true and steering straight.
Ship is cradled in...

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