You were stalwart, my Navy shipmate,
you didn't hesitate,
you knew as you earned the title Navy SEAL,
war would become much more real,
Those who criticize,
don't realize,
it's easy for them to misjudge from
their cozy armchairs,
they should thank God they weren't
sent over there,
as war causes so many of our
soldiers despair,
these haughty critics would of been
the first to call out for you,
if the merciless enemies walked down
the avenue,
You defended us, your people, and
you we deeply respect and appreciate,
rest In God, our gratitude, shipmate.
Categories:
shipmate, 6th grade, 7th grade,
Form: Rhyme
We are out in the ocean where the spray is rough
Old Medley Meanie decides to get meaner and tough
We take Captain Smithe and we throw him overboard.
We are a crew of roughnecks with our hatchet and sword!
Cap’n is gone, we are cheering our rebel!
The ocean has taken him, he’s head’d for hell.
We are fighting to be Captain, in charge now.
Fighting for the crown on the ship’s bloody bow!
There are ten of us left. We know there is only food for six.
I am hoping to get the one steak, but I am in quite a fix.
The other pirates are as mean as I have ever tried to be.
I am in trouble now in this dangerous Caribbean Sea.
Cap’n is gone, we are cheering our rebel!
The ocean has taken him, he’s head’d for hell.
We are fighting to be Captain, in charge now.
Fighting for the crown on the ship’s bloody bow!
There are six of us left, we are the toughest of all.
I am scared of only one, shipmate Morey, he is seven foot tall.
He comes at me with a hatchet, and I plunge into the sea.
I guess fear will now be the death of me.
Categories:
shipmate, 10th grade, 4th grade,
Form: Rhyme
A new year has rounded the corner,
with grave news hard on its heels.
A father's friend at kinship's dawn,
a clan's family, by life's sudden dusk.
In so many respects my father's twin,
he could look in a mirror and see Chuck.
To say 'brother' seems not strong enough,
not nearly a sufficing title for the man.
Growing up, he was simply an uncle,
another sarcastic voice in the choir.
Shipmate, soundboard, confidant, kin;
fellow gamer, writer, musical connoisseur.
Buddy, mentor, verbal sparring partner;
hilarious, caring, intelligent, smart-ass.
Always a phone call or a flight away,
each of these things, to each of us or to all.
Thirty years his junior -
yet he asked my advice on,
and I got to be present for,
his first, and sadly only, tattoo.
He got to meet my wife last year,
for which I am beyond thankful.
He sought her counsel for his next tattoo,
which will now be another of hers.
An easy man to like,
with an easy smile and easier laugh,
now a hard man to miss -
but with good stories, of a greater man.
And for those who knew him;
be grateful for having known the dead,
and hold to hope that 'bye' -
is only for now.
Categories:
shipmate, death, death of a
Form: Free verse
In a 40 tonne steal vessel
You'd think your safe
But the waves are hassle
Higher than the empire state
Tossing us around,
Like a childs play thing
Up high then suddenly down
Left to right like a swing
Hanging on to a table
With my head full of lumps
Not feeling very stable
Getting battered by loose junk
I want to go home now
It's been long enough
I'm cold, scared and half drowned
Seawater covering all of us
Never change your ships name
Was a scream I heard
The captains to blame
The oceans proving the curse
I'm too young to die
And not in this way
I cannot tell a lie
Save me i pray
Categories:
shipmate, adventure, courage, destiny, fate,
Form: Rhyme
One Man’s Lofty Dream or "Lalalaloo, lalalaloo, lalalaloo."
In a country across a mysterious, unrelenting sea,
Lived a young man, another tongue had he with lofty dreams,
Fishing on a rushing river, longing for a lovely lady,
On the deck in the moonlight, his resonant voice
Raised up to sing..
“I’m sailing yon across the unpredictable ocean waves,
I’ll sew sheepskin boots and shoes,
The designs on them beautiful to cry for,
Lalalaloo, lalalaloo, lalalaloo."
Then Paddy closed his weary eyes, his lofty dream had he,
He would make shoes and boots in a far new country,
His fantasy grew year after year, and then,
A shipmate told him of his sister, his sister a lass of eighteen.
Under the stars, a quarter moon, and swishing waves,
He whisked her to that new country of his dream, and now
His boys have their mother’s black hair, his girls his red,
And the loveliest designed footwear in his new land.
Living his lofty dream.
Categories:
shipmate, faith, hope, success,
Form: Narrative
The gnu in the crew
Didn’t know what to do
He was feeling a wee bit bumfuzzle
For the bear in the middle
Spoke pure taradiddle
And he was just part of the puzzle
He called out “gardyloo
Yes, I’m talking to you
You’ve turned us about widdershims”
Then he heard billingsgate
From another shipmate
With language not found in church hymns
Now he felt gollywobbles
From all of their squabbles
And wanted to set the crew straight
“We must turn cattywampus
And follow the compass
And do it before it’s too late.”
Like sickersnees through some butter
An encouraging utter
“I think we can keep up the pace”
And soon by some gubbins
By hard rowing and pumpin’s
They found themselves back in the race
I was asked to write a poem using all those weird words you see. You might have to look them up in a dictionary to get the true meaning of some of the lines.
Categories:
shipmate, language, silly,
Form: Rhyme
I have memories of pier twelve
Right at the Norfolk Naval Base
Those memories I’ll never shelve
McDonald’s’ there to feed my face
I stood some sentry watches there
As my sister was in port too
During winter there is cold air
Without ID you won’t come through
I’ll never forget last time there
With my walker saw the Nimitz
And with a shipmate things to share
Today my life has some limits
Can’t run like I did back then
I drank and smoked much more too
Back then the ship was all men
Some say co-ed ships are true
Categories:
shipmate, family, food, friendship,
Form: Quatrain
Fading beacons, lights along the further distant shores
As the firebugs within nights, a burning nevermore
Left unpleasured in their yearning, Seamen laden take the test of storms
As the lunar lighthouse crossing clouds, swallowing up to blacken bay
And mariners are dreaming of hearth and home beneath Trident's splashing grayer haze
But, more of regret that they're met by wave after crashing wave
And the lightning unrelenting, lighting up hollow safeties
As sirens do, louder than the roars that nature orchestrates
Where silence booms just below, the ocean offers up her truce of deadly ways
A chance for eternal rest in seabeds of reef and precious sunken treasures
Thus, once again joining their fallen, fellow shipmate anchors
In the mist of a shipwrecks, beguiled into ancient slumber
Waiting in unmarked graves to one day be discovered
Categories:
shipmate, natural disasters, sea,
Form: Free verse
Thar be me captain
The leader of my crew.
He is a mighty man
Bold, Strong, and True.
I be his shipmate
The cook, swab, and crew.
I am but his deckhand
Loving, Affectionate, and True.
In me belly be our seed
The mascot of our trade.
He is but a boy now
A symbol of a love that will never fade.
Categories:
shipmate, funnyme,
Form: Prose Poetry