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Best Poems Written by Simon Cooper

Below are the all-time best Simon Cooper poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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Killer

KILLER

Saturnine sleeper of the night,
Soaring slowly, out of sight,
Sleekly shadowing the gloom,
Silent harbinger of doom,
Innocent assassin, surreptitious, sly,
Stainless scandal slipping by,
Scything swiftly through the dark,
Hark the herald warning: Shark.

Details | Simon Cooper Poem

The Eye of the Sea - Part 1

(note: The site restrictions don't allow long epic poems, so I have split this into 6 segments, each should run straight on from the previous one.)

THE EYE OF THE SEA

Or
The Rime of the Ancient Kubla Kahn on the Road to Mandalay

There washed ashore a devil’s whore
Who claimed he’d never been paid,
Near dead from Sin, or weatherin’
Yet feared to loose his blade.

We did our best to ease his rest,
But our experts all were vexed:
The Old Wives College exhausted their knowledge;
The doctors cursed their texts.

Wracked with pain his life had waned
His eyes were growing dim,
His final words were barely heard:
Everything looked grim.

With chicken pills we cured his chills,
For strength we gave him broth,
His brow was mopped, his temperature watched,
We swaddled him in sailcloth.

Then from afar with strengthened heart
As if ‘twere heaven’s game
His mien changed, he had regained
The pilot to his flame.

In heartened mood we gave him food,
And bade his tale be told;
And so he spoke for the price of a toke
And a butcher’s bag of gold.

“ ‘Twas in the port of Herringford,
Where all the cows lie down,
A skipper talked, he claimed he sought
A crew of great renown.

The wind was high in a sunless sky,
The waves were barreling in,
And word got round of men to be found
That night at The Mortal’s inn.

At eight o’clock the bolts were shot
And all were locked within,
With muttered words of rumours heard
And lubricant of Gin.

The Captain coughed and glanced around
For conversations shed,
With laser gaze and aged malaise,
In a darkened voice he said:

‘Into the storm at the crack of dawn
We sail on the morning tide,
Let no man here betray his fear,
His passion or his pride!’

The aim of the endeavour was legend’ry treasure,
The fabled crystal ship of the Prince,
Lost years before off the Straits of Nepal,
And famously quested for since.

Our boat, ‘The Eye,’ was a Barquentine,
Just a quarter league in length,
She sailed as sweet as a sackful of eight,
With grace and speed and strength.

Twelve good men without pretence
Agreed to the journey ahead,
But the cheery tales of places sailed
Belied their inner dread.

The crew we got were a hardy lot,
Experienced one and all,
But none were fools and caution ruled
When it came to signing aboard.

Continued on The Eye of the Sea part 2

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Alone

ALONE


Deserted with his humour failing, 
Walks alone, emotions trailing,
Ripped and broken on the floor, 
A lover with a love no more.
Torn from it's cage and left in the dirt, 
His incompetent heart, 
Haemorrhages, 
Hurts.

Details | Simon Cooper Poem

Komodo

Prehistoric island beast,
Drifting in the ocean,
Heavy amidst a sun-starred sea,
Dreamclouds hover kissing ridges,
Pouring over cliffs,
Shadowed maws in sunlight threaten
Lips of sand on mouths of bays,
Silent surf littorally nibbling,
Eating beasts in slumber,
Mist-hazed horizon dictates time,
Waiting places Poseiden smiles,
Distance closes over time;
Distance closes all of time.

Details | Simon Cooper Poem

The Eye of the Sea - Part 6

Continued from The Eye of the Sea part 5


There washed ashore the Devil’s Whore,
Who had three times been paid,
Preserved through Sin and worshippin’
Beelzebub and the grave.

With many a cheer he’d drunk all our beer,
He’d finished off most of our weed,
We witnessed in silence this story of violence
And fury had sowed its seed.

As he finished his tale he turned rather pale,
For he noticed the swords that we held,
Unsheathed and steadily wielded and ready,
For the act that we all felt compelled.

Yet none took the lead in this, ‘merciful,’ deed
All scared to touch Lucifer’s Bride,
‘Til a preacher we knew explained what to do,
So we burnt the poor bastard alive!




And,
On the Island of Flowers, where the days pass like hours,
In a silent, secluded cavern,
Two sailors discussed their betrayal of trust,
Whilst polishing a Crystal Galleon.

O’Leary said to Griffin, “D’ya think he’s really coming?
To, ‘hunt us down like dogs,’ and take us in?”
“If he comes back, I think, he’ll prob’ly buy us a drink,
For finding this bloody damn ship!”













THE CREW
1.	Captain – Montgomery McWhirter.
2.	First Mate – Thor Grimpmire.
3.	Bosun – Haggis McTavish.
4.	Doctor – Cuthbert Creely.
5.	Chaplain – Loki Walker.
6.	Cook – Nipples McGinty.
7.	Hand – Noel Pierre. ………………………….…..Lost
8.	Hand – Hades Stint. ……………………………...Lost
9.	Hand - Augustus Griffin. ………………...………AWOL
10.	Hand - Frothy Johanssen.
11.	Hand – Sprinkles O’Leary. ………………………AWOL
12.	Hand – Nifty O’Howell. …………………………Lost
13.	Hand – Skate Wills. ………………………...……Flower
14.	Hand – Terry McCassey. ………………...…...….Flower
15.	Hand – Gordon Blue. ……………………...……..Flower

Details | Simon Cooper Poem

The Eye of the Sea - Part 2

Continued from The Eye of the Sea part 1


The first mate, dour and sparse of words
Claimed few things were his pleasure
And too much beer had brought him here,
That and the rumoured treasure.

The cook was thin, just bones and skin,
And constantly in a bad mood,
Though he feigned remorse and all because
He feared to eat his own food.

Why’d he ever leave home with the urge to roam?
The cabin boy’d contemplate,
Each morning he’d swear that the Gods were unfair,
They were gambling on his fate.

Crippled from birth, yet filled with mirth,
The Bosun was a giant in spirit,
Admired on the whole for the size of his soul
And loathed for his rapier wit.

The doctor arrived in the nick of time
And reluctantly clambered aboard,
Not good at sea, more vet than M.D.
The money was what he adored.

At hint of bad weather, as precautionary measure,
He’d dose everyone with horse tonic,
It aided some in the work to be done,
But most were better off than on it.

And Helen the Whore was smuggled aboard,
To keep the men happy she came,
The tales told were true of positions she knew,
And all with a different name.

With holes in her socks and riddled with pox,
She catered to everymans need,
‘Twas all she could do, and praised by the crew,
Allowed everyone to succeed.




The rest of the men were salty and grim,
From a life on the oceans wide,
They cared little more for what fate held in store,
Than they did for the size of the prize.

Our vessel outfitted; the crew all listed,
There was little more to do,
So the Captain paid for a cask full of ale
And we drank the whole night through.

The crowd all cheered from the end of the pier
As the crew cast off from the quay,
And sailed away at the start of the day,
In a boat called, ‘The Eye of the Sea.’

The ship set sail at the height of the gale,
As the night was shriven by the sun.
The boat moved with ease on the thunderous seas,
Our Odyssey… had begun.

The seas were rough, the sailing tough
Though each man played his part,
We covered much ground, (metaphors allowed,)
The lure of gold adding heart.

Then the crew fell ill, from the doctor’s pill,
Which brought them all to their knees,
So he dosed them with Chillies and Water of Lilies
In the wrath of the South China seas

But recovery was slow in the turbulent flow,
Unrelieved by rife Mal de Mer
Our strength was failing, the seas unavailing
We struggled with desperate despair

Continued on The Eye of the Sea part 3

Details | Simon Cooper Poem

The Eye of the Sea - Part 4

cont'd
These anguished howls that knew no bounds,
Continued for hours without count.
‘til a silence as deep as eternal sleep
Enveloped the ship in its gowns.

And amidst the gloom, exhumed from the tomb,
A shaded and ghostly shape,
With cobwebbed sails, salt-bitten rails,
And seaweed couture drapes.

A ship it must be, but like none on the sea,
A wraith spat upwards from Hell,
And bearing the spirits of our crewmembers with it,
Each greeting the man they knew well.

For each crewman there, a twin in despair,
A spectre of future distress,
With a grisly demise written large in their eyes
Portraying their spirits abyss.

The sailors watched as the boat approached
In silence, awe and terror,
Routed there, in fresh despair
At Kismet’s growing horror.

On course for collision, this God-awful vision,
Met with us way too quick,
And the shadowy form of this vessel hellborn,
Ran into and straight through our ship.

And before day was done, the haze was gone,
With no hint of mystical powers,
But overcome by fright, we returned overnight
To the fabulous Island of Flowers.

A while was spent relaxing in tents
Exalting in the islands pleasures,
Then Captain McWhirter, led the search for deserters,
‘Give no quarter, or easy measures!’

But, O’Leary and Griffin got wind of our mission
And had hidden aways inland,
We searched in vain for quite a few days
But no sign of them could be found.

So after this rest we continued our quest,
With five flowers to complete the crew.
The sea was bright in the morning light
And the wind was with us too.

For many a league we travelled at speed,
We laughed at the nautical mile,
For the dangers pale when there’s life in your sails,
And you’re bathing in Neptune’s smile.

Then without warning the wind started falling,
The boat no longer made way,
With no hint of a breeze in the South China Seas
It sat calmly for many a day.

Through nights and days in the misty haze
The vessel barely shifted,
With Weevils, with fleas, with weeping disease,
Our spirits were hardly lifted.

Then adrift one night, in the clear moonlight
We all felt a growing unease,
And before the sun rose the rigging had froze,
In the heat of the South China Seas.

This omen of chill, fair sapped our will,
Again our spirits had faltered,
Just one of the crew could think what to do:
So the Pagan was sent to his altar.

The Sinner prayed to the Gods he’d made:
‘Please help us we’re in dire need,’
One actually heard these begging words
But it wasn’t to aid he agreed.
contd

Details | Simon Cooper Poem

The Eye of the Sea - Part 5

Continued from The Eye of the Sea part 4

Becalmed we were for three days more,
Then the wind began to rise,
At the Captain’s bidding, we set to the rigging,
Eyes firmly upon the prize.

But, ‘Something’s awry!’ the Bosun did say,
And a muttering passed through the crew,
In a sudden turmoil, the ocean boiled,
Precursor to terrors anew.

From the water’s depths, with foetid breath,
A demon arose just astern,
Its torso aflame betrayed its true name,
As it casted for souls to burn.

This demon of the ninth gate was evil incarnate,
Lived backwards to prove its worth,
And hunted its prey the easy way:
His fields were the entire earth.

With sombrous skin, obsidian,
With glinting claws and eyes,
Cracking its whip it crippled the ship,
Delivering all to the flies.

Now our boat was built clinker, difficult to sink her,
In truth she was very well made,
But the force of the whip fair split the ship,
And left all the rigging in flames.

Rent asunder she started going under,
The waters heaved ominously,
All started prayin’ their souls to be savin’,
In the dark of the South China Sea.

Slowly she foundered as the sea rose around her,
Subliming her into the waves,
Some cracked liquor pots an’ some farthings of flotsam,
Sum totalled her earthly remains.

The demon sneered as the ship disappeared,
Dragged steaming beneath the waves.
With joy it roared for the terror caused
And the souls of sailors unsaved.

Just I survived, adrift but alive,
By luck and nothing more,
Through sober and storm, I came to no harm,
And woke up here on the shore.”


Continued on The Eye of the Sea part 6

Details | Simon Cooper Poem

The Eye of the Sea - Part 3

Continued from The Eye of the Sea part 2


The heaving swell and the waves from hell
Soon swamped our valiant vessel,
With the holds in flood: tattered sails above,
We were in the direst of peril.

In a meet with the Captain, we lobbied the Chaplain,
Imploring him, ‘talk to the lord!’
Then came from his cabin a babbling of Latin,
Not that it did much good.

But one was at odds, worshipped Older Gods,
‘of Heath then!’ he proudly proclaimed,
As we started to falter he knelt at his altar
Beseeching his deity’s aid.

And from the crow’s nest the lookout impressed
Us all with his hawklike vision:
‘There’s rocks to the west; to the east the tempest;
But an island is on the horizon!’

The storm took our baggage, our yacht badly damaged,
We’d lost Pierre, Stint and O’Howell,
So we stopped for repairs, for provisions and spares
On the mystical Island of Flowers.

We lazed in the sun, while the work was done
By artisans, artists and slaves,
We stayed for three weeks, encamped on the beach,
Though we’d only planned a few days.

The lack of strife with the island life,
Had seduced us each and all:
Good food and wine, the living was fine
Hell’s teeth, we were having a ball!

The sun was high in a Simpson’s sky,
The waves were lapping the shore,
The Sinner prayed to the Gods he’d made,
‘The same tomorrow, but more!’

But the Captain was gravid, ‘too long have we tarried,
Needs must we be headed west,
By the next sunset, we’ll have all hands on deck,
Tomorrow we resume our quest!’

But two crewmen were missing, O’Leary and Griffin,
When it came to signing aboard,
They’d run to the hills with a couple of girls,
Desiring to travel no more.


THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS ON THE EQUATOR.


‘Ye mutinous dogs, I’ll catch ye by God,’
The skipper was fury and gall,
‘I’ll be back with hounds to hunt ye down,
Then I’ll have ye both keel hauled!’

So we left the port, clear five men short
But confident in our proficiency,
We shortened the cloth and doubled the watch,
Which tripled our efficiency.

But the five adrift were sorely missed
The strain was beginning to tell,
The Captain noticed and said to the Bosun:
‘This quest b’aint be goin’ so well!’

And the sinner prayed to the Gods he’d made,
‘Please see us through this mess!’
But his tremulous tears fell upon deaf ears,
And we stayed divinely unblessed.

Then a shrouding sea mist, apparition kissed
Emerged from the waters calm,
With eerie cries of torment and strife
And windblown ethereal forms.


Continued on The Eye of the Sea part 4

Details | Simon Cooper Poem

Phone Number

PHONE NUMBER 

Owen Fife, once heaven known iron,
Fought who to Seven