Do you think I can save all ships in distress?
How wrong you are! Times when I sorely pressed,
Times when my beacon was snuffed out of its glory.
Oh, I can tell you many an adventurous story,
Exciting exploits on the tumultuous and stormy seas
High waves span all around me, ugly with a heavy breeze.
Still, there’s one I would sincerely like to show,
Although it happened a long time ago.
The Greyhound had a young master, rich and mean,
And he dared cross the sea, oh what a scene.
The winds were high and the sky was overcast
Waves were high and terrible. The ship could not last.
Aboard the vessel, I saw the master of the merchant ship,
Carrying slaves and other goods, was a doomed deplorable trip.
Above the dim of wicked waves, clangs of iron I heard,
And screams intermixed with every offensive word.
The man drenched held to the mast, knelt and prayed
Let them be saved, he would renounce his trade.
Years passed and the man gladly his faith he did embrace.
He vowed he’d fight slavery with his “Amazing Grace”.
the commander
Going on board my ship, a balmy night in Gibraltar
I noticed four old warships (hunter class) tied up
together on a deserted pier as waiting for the final
verdict, to be turned into nails or sunk.
Having drunk beers with an ex. Royal navy people
I boarded one ship, walked up to the bridge
And took command
Giving orders to drop depth charges against
a German U-boat, I heard a voice behind me say:
“This is state property you have to leave.”
He took his helmet off and whipped his shiny doom,
a sociable copper, not looking for upgrades by
arresting people.
Leisurely we walked to my merchant ship
in a few hours, I would get up, cook breakfast
but I had, briefly, been a commander.
5 cups of heavy cream
3 cups of pureed shrimps
2 cup of crawfish
2 cups of crab meat
1 1/2 cup of cooked polish sausage( minced)
5 cups of chicken stock
1/2 cup of olive oil and flour roux( 1/2 c of flour and 1/2 olive oil cook tannish brown)
2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper
1 cup of sauteed onions
1 cup of minced celery
1 cup of red bell pepper
1/4 cup of chopped garlic
1/4 cilantro
1/2 cup of lemon juice
1/4 sherry
in a pot add roux and garlic and vegetables,
bring to a simmer
add sausage, shrimp, crab, crawfish
add sherry
add stock and allow the stock to thicken
add cream and remove from the heat.
serve with egg noodles or rice and yeast rolls.
The Merchant seafarers` war
When world war two started Norway was
neutral but unsure which side to stay on.
The English thought occupying Norway
but they were too late the German army had
done the occupation.
The British sent a ragtag military force to Norway
trying to cut the country in half to stop further
advances but were told to pull out.
Norway had at this point a big merchant fleet
It was sequestrated and used bring good and weapon
for the allies.
This left thousands of seamen nowhere
to go those go tried to flee was arrested and sent
back as crew members of any merchant ship.
They the crew lived under a constant pressure
(one out of ten) never made it home can you imagine
how they year after year lived in constant fear
a tank ship full high octane for planes with the enemy
U-boats lurking about. When the war ended and
they could go home they were treated with indifference
like shirkers who had avoided the war.
These seafarers where heroes of the highest order
but the government ignored them, they let down the pride
of Norway, one can say without them the war might
have lasted much longer
The merchant ship
The ship leaves Rotterdam
sail to the med, and through the Suez channel
into the red sea, the vessel arrives at an oil terminal
and all you see is pipelines storage tanks and sand,
then the ship goes back the same way.
The sea in its different mood can be lovely to look
at but after some time it gets boring.
Or a containership jam-packed with boxes that
load and unload I record time there is no time to go ashore
and explore. After a year of this tedium, you go home
and have seen nothing but oil tubes.
The Voyage
The big seagull sat on the bow of my rowing boat
on my way to Argentina and Rosita,
which I never met she had married guitar player-
had unfriendly eyes ready to peck my eyes out.
I regretted my heroism.
I wanted to go to Argentina because of its pampas
Beautiful horses and also to be famous for the voyage
I was picked up by a merchant ship
it was actually going the wrong way docked in Antwerp
Free beer for the, would be the hero.
I got a job on an old steamer bound for Argentina.
Buenos Aires,
A City with so many beautiful women it took a long
before I got my stead looking for the tree of wisdom.
I found it burning in the night
the Gauchos were feeling cold and set fire to the tree.
What matters is the journey
which is a fine sentence to cover for absolute failure.
A swallow swoops for flitting flies
While Johnny rubs exhausted eyes
(As morning clasps the rising sun)
Confirming Captain’s day’s begun:
Slow streams emerge from melting snows -
The Merchant Ship’s in stark repose...
As Johnny frets with tingling tongue
A Vulture fleeces fields far-flung
(Beneath a bleeding sun above),
And Captain culls the dead with love:
Yes, while the silent water flows,
The Merchant Ship just gulps and grows...
A serpent weaves amongst the weeds
As Johnny dares audacious deeds
(When evening drains the dying day)
To stop the Captain, come what may:
And while the raging rivers grow
The Merchant Ship rocks to and fro...
An owl, a’ branch, has teacup eyes
That glimmer dark as Johnny dies
(Now sown inside the future’s womb)
When flushing Captain to his doom:
Trapped in titanic undertow
The Merchant Ship’s swept down below...
A fledgling bird sprays morning dew
As Johnny Junior’s born anew
(He’s baptised in the dawn ablaze)
To rectify the former days:
Raw rills arise from melting snow
And virgin rivers start to flow...
Light breaks from the moon's circle ring like a diamond
Directing magic streaks in the sea waters
Bewitched the Double Decker surfaces with ghosts
Manning the sails and wheels in pirates’ glee:
A few hours with the stars and open waves
Searching for a lonely lost merchant ship
Carrying chocolate crumbs and fermented kedged beer
Unseen they submerge to their liar with their prey.
New ship lost to navigators’ addicted tracks?
For now none dare to cross this channel again.
Picture Prompt:-
http://fantasyartdesign.com/free-wallpapers/imgs/mid/483d-ghost-ship-poster-m.jpg
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