Long Skippers Poems

Well what the Dickens is going on?
My choice as the greatest scribe and voice of our tribe
Charles not himself a cricketing man but definitely a fan

Twas…the tale of two skippers and two cities
Both burdened by...

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In one square mile, northeast of Noojee,
there are seven birds that I often get to see
as I walk on the tracks in pristine forestry,
in one square mile, northeast of Noojee.

A Whipbird crack through ti-tree scrub,
a...

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The Flag of the British Merchant Navy 

The Battle of the Atlantic

We’ve heard of the famous Mighty Hood that was sunk by a Bismarck shell
We know how many men were lost and the Skippers name...

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At dawn the bay bed glows peachy yellow.
The waters above blue-green and gleaming. 
Further out a grey shroud of ripples entraps the yachts
with lace nets en-snaring a flock of hulls.
Yet farther out still, the sea...

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the following quite quirky epistle may not exhibit the ordinary characteristics of poetry, but i decided to share this self made challenge (where every word begins with the letter "S" - no explanation can be...

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Uninvited Picnic Guest
     By Dane Smith-Johnsen

One sunny day, perfect for a picnic,
Across the street from shaded woodland trails,
Mom, two friends, and we kids had a picnic.
All were enjoying fun beside the...

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The Rum Runners

Dry was the USA a hundred years ago.
Prohibition just begun, and spirits running low.
Then, to the rescue, fishermen, fresh from the Georges Bank,
Weighed down their boats with “demon rum” instead of fishing tanks.

For...

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A Glimpse of T.I.P Journey


Education never stops and so learning does
The moment we embrace challenges 
is the moment we climb and hold this torch
The torch of light and hope as we, painstakingly 
reach for the...

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I was …

awake …
in the crow’s nest
but doing all I could to not nod off
we had been through storms that day and
all the previous night
(such was the North Bering)
so not a soul had slept
‘til now...

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enter… find nature
Boultham Park hides its wonders
flora and fauna

hedgerows… privet…
hawthorn… laurel.. woodland walks
lake bank side vistas

siskins… goldcrests… gems
sparrowhawks… if your lucky
sneaky brown rats too

floating treasures… ducks
mallard… tufted… goosanders
widgeon… on good days

nuthatches… winter…
feeding stations… eye candy
great…...

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Once almost a little village
Within the city’s bounds,
Huddled around the fish dock
With its own smells and sounds,
Streets of rows of terraces
All well kept and neat,
Pride shining through
Every worker Street.

Deckies, Filleters, Bobbers
All closely living there, 
The...

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They slip in unnoticed
  just below the burning rays of the sun solstice
  lighting on the last flowers of summer bare,
  sweet nectar wafting in the heavy laden air,
colors brilliant, glowing, coy
...

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Ancient Aliens

They have always been here
ancient? – alien?
living amongst the unknowing
hiding in plain sight.
How have they altered
our past? – our future?
advanced or hindered
our progress – our failure.
How have they touched us
with an unseen nudge,
aligned the...

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        Chiseled bone fibre silences white noise water
        Shiv splits through throat, jugular scissored
       ...

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May the butterflies of this world return to us once more 
when the spring provides her heat we will no longer hide
Eastern winds of far away lands flying in unknown shores 
their cellophane wings of...

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In summer my garden comes alive
as graceful butterflies make it home.
Peacocks with vivid colours flit
from blossom to blossom

Busily working gathering nectar
pollinating as they go on to next
flower. All so pretty I love them all
visiting my...

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seafarers’ paradise

seven men drowned 
when a ship sank under gigantic waves
seven weeks later 
they appeared on the Island of Saragossa
where singing shanty is forbidden

but seaweed is served in 7 variations
by a female ship cook, the...

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Friend Ship

When my inner compass falters
	     with joy suspended from a sinking buoy 
as waves rush by in sunken dreams
	     you shine the torch’s flare of sun...

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Lies in the large area of Atlandic deep
Betwixt Florida, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda
A creepy, frightening, and mysterious reef
Formed the devil's triangle above atoll Barbuda

The heavily travelled shipping lanes of the globe
Where vessels vanished in mystic...

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1
by the river Seine
a girl of sixteen summers
opened her blue eyes

2
the tulip opened
to speak out love but the bee
carried the last dew

3
a wrinkle in time
puckered the curtain of her
certain diffidence

4
the distant thunder
to wake  the...

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fat globs and splashes jive off the spin cycle of the ocean this afternoon
I see round circles of suds amid dancing twirls and whirls, it is fabulous
no one could paint these artistic swirls and blobs,...

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We talked about poetry
Over cups of coffee and cigarette
In a café full of prowlers of pleasure
And skippers of wisdom
On a wintry day 
That was numbing my patience

The bitter taste of coffee 
Energized my words, 
Fluttering...

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