Nautical Poems | Examples


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Premium Member Anchor

So, am I pulling you down?
Or holding you in your place?
Sinking to a new low?
And keeping you locked in space?

Are you in need to move on?
Longing to drift in the breeze?
Catch yourself a new wave?
And get up off of your knees?

But why do you want to drift?
Just where do you want to roam?
Can’t you stay here with me?
And make this spot into home?

Is this thing not what I am?
Is this place not where we are?
I am keeping you safe…
No need to reach for a star…

One day you will let me go.
Into the depths I’ll descend.
And then you will move on.
Our time together will end.

But, while you’re sailing along,
With freedom as your new norm,
You will remember me,
Who kept you safe from the storm.

Balefire

Balefire

What glory is a lighthouse with no storm to weather?
For there is no solace in harbouring a harpooned wanderer
Truth be told, I am the jaded sea-torn sailor
Yet they sing to me and call me the Balefire

Doldrums
Doldrums
Dear doldrums you call…..

In endless seas jetsam thoughts seek out the siren’s forever
Despite smooth tides and the steady marauder
Truth be told, I am the sea-sick star-gazer
Yet the sing to me and call me the Balefire

Doldrums
Doldrums
Dear doldrums you call…..

Washed ashore, these barren lands may guide me asunder
I can forget my qualms in search of treasure
Where windward dreams shall starve the fever
Truth be told, I am the moody-marooned mariner
Yet they sing to me and call me the Balefire

Doldrums
Doldrums
Dear doldrums you called…..

They say the ocean is home to many souls lost at sea
The Doldrums tell me there is no greater death than the one within me

Premium Member Only the Parrots Saw

Tropical breezes waft across a sea of empyrean bliss as
a lost ship, the The Golden Dragon,
cast it’s indigo shadow upon turquoise waters.

Parrots preening one another,
were the welcoming party for weary travelers.
whispering leaves on trees twisted with the winds of ages,
graced the morning light upon the shore.

Down Anchor and a shoreward visit to
this seraphic isle, gave them a chance
to enjoy an idyllic splendor, they’d never before seen;
Fruit and nuts were gathered and some small animals for sustenance and a much-need good night’s sleep allowed them time to reflect, reconnect with one another and re-chart their course.

The preening pair watched
as the ship weighted anchor, turned starboard, 
and vanished into thin air.


Mosquito On the Nautical Chart

An experienced ship's commander
         uses AIs similar transponder
         knows what the map blur is
         don't sink ship for quiz
         not blur of mosquito , i ponder

Premium Member Nautical Navy Soldier-

Mystic mystical seas
Wayward soldier
 it's not yet over
over yourself is just 
being gone over
 on the rising raging seas
 your voyages just begun
Binding me and in raging seas
 high at nautical pace your journey's
Journey course 
it is of course 
nautical lacrosse
at the raging marsh a
Nautical Navy soldier

2/5/21
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2021

How Many Nautical Miles

A very wise but good natured
mathematician once 
whispered to me
some helpful words of advice
when sailing the seven seas
it takes 1,852 metres and 6,076 feet
to find each nautical miles


How she did it 
I found very shocking
because I didn't even know 
the method she had used
whether finding the circumference of the Earth surface
or speed up time by sixty seconds
or even plotting the gradient and a straight line
I found the whole thing so confusing
even for a person who is a very talented mariner
but at the end all she did was as tell me
that's just life my dear friend


Ghosts On the Water

ghosts on the water
Captains courageous
Out hunting for whale
Ghosts on the water
Still under sail

Whales are all gone now
Time goes so fast
Ghosts on the water
Still a'fore the mast

Yesterday beckons
But no one can see
The ghosts on the water
Still sailing the sea

Hunting for schools
That no longer exist
Ghosts on the water
Sail on in the mist

Captains courageous
Out hunting for blue
Souls lost in stasis
A captain and crew

Looking for something
Fighting waves and the gales
Ghosts on the water
Still under sail

A sailor's adventure
Going where the wind blows
When will the sea bite?
Nobody knows

Ships nonexistent
Hunting whales also lost
Ghosts on the water
Whatever the cost

Nautical

NAUTICAL

a gale of tidal
nautical waves
nourish the shoal
hand palming moist
 as wet sands drain 
lungs fill with the
beauty of usage
swallowing it in
throat soaked 
spheres float above
discreetly    quietly
nonentity upstarts
avoid nautical
aquanimity
blind to sea
blind to see
clarity
of mind



© Kim van Breda—19 October 2015

Nautical Grace

Through waters you move.
All else is dull when compared.
What beauty you hold.

Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.

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