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Best Poems Written by Joseph Ress

Below are the all-time best Joseph Ress poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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Masculine Toxcicity

(Shakespearean sonnet form: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG)

If there exists in your vicinity,
Presence of Toxic Masculinity
Give many thanks to your divinity
For this male fortunate proximity.

T’was men created engines, made the wheel.
Now look around, and all that you can see
Was made by toxic men who smelted steel
And conceived by male creativity.

You’ll find Ms. Curie heads a tiny list
Revealing gifts of femininity
A list so small that often it is missed.
Search if you will into infinity.

So ladies all, you should be grateful then,
That we are blessed with many toxic men.

Details | Joseph Ress Poem

The Song of the Gunners Mate

Listen, my shipmates and you shall hear
A tale of adventure and a sea career.
I shall never forget that cold clear day
When I left the shore of ‘Gansett Bay.

The sight of my ship was one of joy 
As she lay tethered to a mooring buoy
And on her bows her numbers clear
Ever more grand as our boat drew near.

I had barely stowed my gear away
When the boatswain’s pipe began to play.
‘Now go to your stations, the sea detail.’
My ship and I were about to sail.

And so began  my maiden trip
In my new home, this long gray ship.
Then later, as a a gunner’s mate
In charge of a five-inch-thirty-eight.

How often we were flung about
In our greyhound out at sea
As our dripping forefoot rose and fell
But nowhere could we flee.

Now three decades worth of sea
Has passed beneath my keel
Not all those years were filled with glee
But most were passed with zeal.

My shipmates - now with Davy Jones
And soon I’ll join that crew,
And we’ll all dance on Fiddler’s Green.
On watch, awaiting you.

Details | Joseph Ress Poem

Minesweepers

You may talk of submarines 
And of other war machines
As you sip your beer and talk of yesteryear.

You may even look with awe
At the ships that roll and yaw,
And the carriers as steady as a rock.

And what’s prettier to see
Than a ‘can’ while out at sea
With her bow that’s dancing through the brine.

A destroyer, tough as nails
Boarding seas bury her rails
Staying vertical is truly an ordeal. 

To the frigates plaudits go
They put on a graceful show
As they sleekly speed along at sea.

But there is a far-famed ship
And to her our caps we tip
To the Sweeper who was where we’re heading now.

See their sweeps when they outreach
Clearing paths from deep to beach 
For landing craft to bring the soldiers through.

Knowing mines unswept ahead,
Resolutely then they thread
And their sweep gear clears a channel for the fleet.

So we give them our salute
Every mine-sweeping galoot.
And raise a toast to them when they’re ashore.

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Death

The ghostly wraith draws ever close,
 He holds his hourglass high
The sands run steady in his glass, 
The end is drawing nigh.

I know there is no Heaven, 
And surely there’s no Hell,
And so whatever happens, 
Will do me very well.

The end is coming closer, 
But I don’t have a fear.
For me it holds no terror, 
Life ripens year by year.

My youthful dreams all came to pass; 
There’s nothing that I lack.
Now nearly five-score years, I know 
I’m never coming back.

What will ensue, I used to ask; 
What will then appear?
Exactly how it used to be 
Before I landed here.

Details | Joseph Ress Poem

The Seaman's Pleasure

Sailor men, bell-bottom dressed,
They know what ladies like the best:
Strong men, with hair upon their chest
And with duration well possessed.

So come ye maidens howe’er you look,
If you can bake or you can cook
Come out ye from your sheltered nook
And do not pleasure overlook.

Details | Joseph Ress Poem

At the Casino

The dice become unfriendly as I watch my slimming pile.
The seven’s coming up again, but doesn’t make me smile.
I’ve put most of my income on the ‘Don’t Pass’ line, you see
But the shooter was a devil and his points were killing me.
-
He makes his numbers often, and I’m in such a fright
The guy’s so hot that I believe he’ll hold those dice all night
But I am not a pussycat, I know he’s gotta lose,
And so, I am persisting, and the ‘Don’t Pass’ line I choose.
-
I’m following the Martingale, a system meant to win
You just keep doubling bet-wise, even if your pile is thin.
Well, my stake is going fast, but I stick to the system
I bet the last chips in my pile, and for good luck, I kissed ‘em.
-
So punters all, take note of this, and you will be a winner
Never, never double bets, it makes your pile much thinner.

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Never

Don’t live your life with skin that’s thin.
Never be sorry, never give in. 
Never apologize, never explain.
Never surrender to meanings not plain.
 
Never forgive, never forget
Never be soft, never regret
Always defend what you know is true 
Against others who haven’t a clue.

Arguments based on empathy,
Are spineless, and lack honesty
Though stated with intensity.
They're nonsense, not reality.

Details | Joseph Ress Poem

New England Winters

You can boast of California, 
And Hilton Head as well,
California’s gotten rotten
Florida’s hot as Hell.

So let me struggle with the snow,
And bundle ‘gainst the cold
I’ll live up here in Yankee land
Until I’m too damned old.

Shoveling’s not much fun, but
Winter’s  cold and snappy. 
Watch sledding kids upon a hill.
Defines the meaning: ’happy’.

Then later, when I’m feeble
And stumble as I go
I’ll think about resigning
But my spirit tells me No!

One thing our winters surely do,
Without a lot of noise, 
It helps the world to separate
The real men from the boys.

Details | Joseph Ress Poem

A Ten Mile Drive

A TEN MILE DRIVE
-
I walked a country road once
In New England, in October.
In a gorgeous colored paradise
You’d think you were not sober.
-
A car approached, my thumb went out
He stopped. I boarded, saw the man,
And nearly tumbled over.
That craggy face, that shock of hair.
-
T’was Robert Frost who’s driving.
Yes, Frost himself. Get in, he said.
And so began a ten-mile ride
I’ll recall with pleasure till I’m dead.
-
So fitting was his presence there
In the land he wrote about
He fit, like gloves, the Yankee scene
Appropriate, no doubt.
-
We chatted just like old friends do,
The miles flew by, the clock had run.
We got to town, I shook his hand.
He said goodbye, the ride was done.
-
How many times in decades since
I rode that ten mile drive
With the great Yankee Catullus
And ride again, I shall, as long as I’m alive.

Details | Joseph Ress Poem

Little Fetus

I’m just a little fetus, I’ve never lived, I fear.
I’ve been up here in Heaven for about a year.
I look down upon the humans whom I have no chance to meet, 
I wish that I could join them, that would be a massive treat.
-
It’s not to be, I know it, I know I never will
But to be a real live person would be a major thrill.
A year ago they took me, I wasn’t truly born,
It hurt a bit at first, and yet my mother didn’t mourn.
-
After that it was all silence, and I knew that I had died
I know I was aborted, and I know nobody cried.
I’ll rattle ‘round up here, I guess, as bored as I can be
With not a single soul on Earth who might remember me.