#ships
Be on the look for other old ships passing in the night!
~for AP and MG~
and all the Old
Gangsters~
though slow moving
hulks,
derelict ships that meander the seas,
not ready for the state of nullity,
but still not as of not yet
having crossed the
edging boundaries
of those rogue states actors
debility inutility and and
and I forget.
ah yes,
futility
we sail with no bravery,
just the engines of the longevity
of persistency ~ pushing us
into
the dangerous waters of
as of yet
uncharted waters
we sail these orange red rusted buckets into harbors that
be restricted forbidding & debased
for
the youngers of any lesser ages,
as we
no longer mourn life nor fear death…
only backwards looking
for pleasured treasures,
and no bewailing the wastage
of wrong forks taken,
or highway 61’s unexamined*
though we live on mountain ranges with egrets and regrets,
made from roughest granite schist and gneiss
that even they, we,
us
eventually succumb to the erosion of millennia
for these metamorphic human stones.
that metastasized to be born
are now to be mesmerized by time
back into eroding,
and though,
our affairs will never be
in order
perhaps orderly
will suffice
and though this the fort~first be of my poems of this day,
knowing it will not
be the lasting,
this Sabbath Saturday April 28th
at 6:56am
and who knows.
who cares?
if it be the last of my life.
it is mine,
ours,
and now
yours
your keepsake
for keeping safe
and always,
”Old age should burn and rave at close of day; /”
fini. <nat lipstadt>
Apr 25
Apr 25, 2026 at 6:16 AM UTC
seeking ranks of three and four all over the room
leaping off the big sinking ship to stay alive
building a new ship to rise over the old ranks
taking more time than needed to get it done right
Apr 15
Apr 15, 2026 at 11:30 PM UTC
It has been said by rigging rope
and restless hand
no working men so thick
with omens stand
as those who wrest their living from the sea,
where fate and foam compose great uncertainty.
From shore she sings a soft,
persuasive tone,
a placid wash of blue green on tempered stone
a poncif sky,
a calm that seems complete,
a gentle rhythm,
almost made to cheat.
But step beyond that edged-most obedient line,
and all her colours break their grand design;
the dominant lines bend,
break, dissolve, renew,
in violent contraposition of grey and blue.
So full hearts them sailors learn by fear,
refined to a art,
known end was always close
or near,
to keep a careful harmony of thy heart:
no whistled note to stir the wind’s they start,
lest air and wave return in tempestuous refrain,
to whistle might call storm and rain
Even the tongue must yield,
must shift its say,
soften its edge so waters keep still at bay;
for words themselves jar the invisible design
and wake the deep
by something which might bring decline.
And spare the albatross,
that pallid guide,
a living balance drifting with the sea and tide;
to strike it down is discord sharply cast,
a fatal note no long prayer
can last.
Yet cormorants,
in darker measure drawn,
move like lost souls between the dusk and dawn
a quiet counter-theme,
oh
a shadowed grace,
the dead made gentle,
tread in their borrowed space.
Each vessel launched is wedded to the deep,
once sealed in blood,
now ritual wine in sleep;
a bride adorned to meet a vaster will,
her hull in tense accord
with waters still.
Thus named “she,” not in softness but in sign,
a form that enters nature’s grand design
where every plank
and sail must one day be
returned in full to that vast symmetry.
And on their skin the sailors tattoo their belief in charms,
inked arm harmonies to guard their fragile forms;
small bursts of colour held against the whole,
an antiphony inscribed upon the soul.
No flowers bloom aboard
only their trace,
in flags that flicker through the salted space;
a memory of land,
of safer schemes,
set trembling in these wind brave fading dreams.
For she the ocean is no tyrant,
nor a foe,
but perfect in the laws
it will not show;
a boundless score
where all must play their part
and end as echoes in its sounding heart.
Apr 9
Apr 9, 2026 at 9:20 AM UTC
The Camel rolled across the desert,
And oh my!
It was a windy long desert!
And the way was wild,
The stars were bright;
The dunes were high: Those Men were brave!
The small boat shalloped over the waters
And oh my! Those were great high waters!
The journey long,
The stars were bright;
The winds so stormy:
Those Men were brave!
The spaceship hurled through Outer Space
And oh my! What a void that was!
The trip so long: The stars so multicolored bright!
The ship so small! Those Men were brave!
Jan 8
Jan 8, 2026 at 4:52 PM UTC
Two up, two down in a North East town
On a street of grey not far from the Bay
Fishing boats line up on the quay
And people come around to see
The ships that sail on down the line
As their bows break foaming waves in the Brine
The sound of hammers, steel and steam
Ring from the Docks, through fog unseen
A shipyard horn howls in the night
The Arc lights of the Welders bright
Then creeps the Morning over the hillside
As the waves roll in with the coming tide
The sound of many booted feet
Stomping down along our street
To the Dockside where they quietly wait
For the Foreman to spread wide the gates
Men of skill now in the past
Raised those ships from keel to mast
Now but a fading memory
Of things that are no longer here
Jan 5
Jan 5, 2026 at 3:06 PM UTC
No one lives on the black sand shore,
Not a soul makes home there anymore.
For there is no peace,
In the land of coal dust.
Evil seeps even into the ocean,
Where 'Purity' once harbored.
What still stands,
Is the gastral rocks gutting through the banks,
Constructing spires to hide,
A skeleton ship parked in ruins of the beachside.
The old SS Purity,
Sent to save those on lonely shores,
From the devil and his kin.
Though now it's the Devil's flag, that hangs half mast,
On the poles of purity.
Don't come too close my boy,
They say it draws you in with soulless cries,
Once you're in the belly of the beast,
There's no hope of escape,
Don't repeat my old sailor's fate
Jun 14, 2025
Jun 14, 2025 at 1:12 PM UTC
They call the ship 'Burden,'
An indestructible vessel,
Rival to the monsters of the sea.
It's exactly what the people needed,
For you see,
In the depths lurked a beast.
Eighty tentacles, four trade ships tall and wide,
A hundred-thirty teeth when it's smile lied.
They called it, "Kraken."
It was nothing of the likes you've seen,
Emperor of the dark sea.
The Burden could hold fifteen hundred men,
Arming harpoons, cannons, muskets, wit.
The king ordered them to turn the seas red with gore,
Call forth the Kraken,
Strike it dead.
Then to the king,
They would drag back it's head.
So come high-noon,
The ship was in place,
Above the deepest of sea caves.
Letting forth crates of bait,
Staining the waters of the sea,
Until the sailors heard a rumble,
Shake the Burden's iron shell.
Up from the waters came long river's hell,
Tentacles like spires towering well beyond the sails.
But the crew held steady,
"Tighten the ropes, arm our cannons,"
Cried the captain,
"Then fire!"
The seas filled with blood,
The sky filled with gunpowder, fractured shells,
A shriek rang out from the deeps.
The cry of death,
From the Kraken itself.
Tentacles sinking away,
"The head!" Cried the captian,
So Lutenent Lucus dived after the creature.
Tied by a rope,
Pike in hand,
The creature's head,
He began to drag.
Though, glancing over his shoulder,
Through the murk he could see,
The form of a woman swimming away.
Some curse broken, he decided,
A soul freed from grim reality.
Peace.
Jun 11, 2025
Jun 11, 2025 at 10:53 AM UTC
They favor asking's shade...?
In metaphor, in gaiety; a tongue of many
Has sat, in a question to fade
Into a pallid existence, with truth, any
A kiss on a blind neck...
My name is plain and introspect?
Shun the court of luck
When spare is fare, only sin reflect's...
Shame to dance:
With a beguiled promise...
Defend a savior, for my blindness
With the climb to fruition, a seasoning of vice?
Courage in temptation's way...
Sour notice of a justice, as a chide...
Consequence keeps altruism, like the back of my hand...
When became toward, is life it's own, snide...
The wages of where
Hair is a persuasion's all, an eye
In coolly collected sake, a charity
Has come of age, with a rainbow for order's of another, silence...
Apr 30, 2025
Apr 30, 2025 at 12:01 PM UTC
Avid, due is
A host of what most
A role of fate, to live like sates bliss
When the world collides, with home pie
Turn the entertainment on?
So weighted an argument, for you to be
A gainly season of truth, that some describe wrong
Like a babbling babe, we turn chaste into a miracle to lead
Shapes of timidity, to come
Sware at a thumb, or drink a beer...
The times are a foreign ship, with bells at the helm
With an approaching iceberg, that has shared your...
Daring a little more, asking sauce?
Escaping the temper of God, in a lifeboat?
Sweating the difference between us, and a hairy ****
Is it all right to dance here, when silence has been overcome more?
Then you, the ship is your future, in the new?
Step into the light, or recede in the dark
Your sneezes predict a shall's conversation, with a cunning who?
Like love to light us a cigarette, we have the sea to hark...
A ruined shadow of a chance, with a special on suicide?
Money or insurance, your place is with me...
Mutual assurance in the now, with a particular habit of life
Something cheery, with soapy eyes and a shyness of meant we're
Apr 12, 2025
Apr 12, 2025 at 8:26 PM UTC
I am looking at ships alone
On the beach of forever
Peeking through clouds the moon shone
Thinking of you again, have I never?
On the beach of forever
Over the sea, under the trees or wherever
I hope my thoughts reach you
Are you thinking of me too?
~4/10/23
Oct 3, 2023
Oct 3, 2023 at 5:47 PM UTC
it is hard for the truth to come out of my sealed lips
played the victim and I take my role seriously
we were just on the same water, passing ships
the sun and the moon meeting in an eclipse
only for a moment but the moment was potent
wishing for more moments like this
rips and rips until I finish my zip
hours and hours until I finish my shift
you are the one thing my mind cannot slip
the one man that drives me to drink
so I don't think, just a couple of sips
now I am covered in my sadness as the sunlight peeks through
such a naive little boy, never knowing what to do
what to do
Apr 13, 2022
Apr 13, 2022 at 12:16 PM UTC
The Skipper -
welcome aboard The Lady Mother Earth
if this ship sinks, it will probably take a while
DO NOT PANIC
MUTINY WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!
some may still have to walk the plank
after sinking
lifejackets are available on the starboard and port sides
when looking toward the bow
the left-hand side is the port side
the right-hand side is the starboard side
sometimes you may have to switch sides to keep her from rolling
we do not want this lady to roll!
first, it will tilt to one end or the other
the bow is the front end of the ship
the stern is the rear end of the ship
the stern will probably go down first
you all will probably run to the bow, in that case
sometimes this can cause a teeter totter effect
sometimes that effect may keep us afloat for a while
sometimes not
although this ship was built
by the finest ship builders ever
the stern has less mass, but more density
we will have no time for physics lessons, if it starts sinking
deckhands, cooks, and even gilligan, must work together
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
I will surely go down with the ship, if she goes down...
for now, let's just try to sail on, and not think about it
let's think of charting the best course
Oct 24, 2021
Oct 24, 2021 at 1:31 PM UTC
Coming from afar
Se los lleva el mar
Rostros de arena.
Feeling two instead of one
Sé que pronto llegarán
Ships to use me as an anchor.
Me gritan "súbete aquí!"
But I only float to sea
Mareándome en pudor.
Which sail will catch me?
¿El norte y sur del que salí?
The faces in the sand must know.
Oct 9, 2021
Oct 9, 2021 at 1:25 AM UTC
Sea calm,
Crew slept,
Dark side,
Sea kept,
Tide raced,
Waves crept,
Crew woke,
Sails prepped,
Coiled spring,
Waves leapt,
Overboard,
Crew swept,
Left behind,
They wept.
For the sea has no respect
For the nautically inept …
Jul 14, 2021
Jul 14, 2021 at 10:02 AM UTC
How heavy one's thoughts can be
When one's mind pulls them out to sea,
And floods of emotion spur the gale,
Cracking rudder and battering sail,
So fissures in the way one thinks
Widens as ship and psyche sinks,
And the cargo one is forced to bear
Drags them deeper into despair.
What was made clear by surface light
Shall fade in the depths of starless night.
Ever down into the cold and dark,
Crushing pressure shall assail one's heart,
And monsters from nightmares well known
Seek the intruder within their home;
As one tries in vain to hold one's breath,
While terrors consume 'till nothing's left,
And a hollow husk shall reach the bed
Who once was captain aboard one's head.
Jan 22, 2021
Jan 22, 2021 at 11:37 PM UTC
I see that you see what you don't want to;
But its true,
now you know it too.
A life boat for your sinking ship,
come on jump in with me
a bold leap is all you need
But acknowledge the ice berg first
and then its impact
You see it.
Why don't you let yourself so?
How I wish you would
How you wish you would
Jan 10, 2021
Jan 10, 2021 at 11:00 AM UTC
Isn't it cruel?
How destiny
teases our future.
Having had
tall wooden ships,
we settled for
paper boats.
Sandoval
Jan 2, 2021
Jan 2, 2021 at 5:34 AM UTC
You ask me
To build you cities
When I only have
Avenues of waterfalls
I wish
These words
Could build you rafts
So you could
Float along the horizon
At the end of the day
Promises are hollow
And we all sink
Like ships
Nov 11, 2020
Nov 11, 2020 at 11:56 AM UTC
Fate is but a curious pattern of twists
An ode to the memories you'd rather forget
We are two halves
Two parts of a whole
Chaos ensues when our union is full
Modern day ecosystems are meaningless
We're a draconian species destined to go extinct
Bound by the theories of renaissance
We grab all we can and do whatever we want
Primitive and limited, foresight is prohibited
A far cry from the eyes of Egyptian pyramids
Here comes a blight that weathers no fight
Everyone going in different directions
Like sinking ships that pass in the night
No politicians plan beyond the next generation
Just until the extent of their own destination
The cupboard runs bare
The well has dried up
Millionaires groom their heirs
The muck has run amok
But the maiden was fair
Now we're all sitting ducks
The hourglass fills up at the bottom
Government bodies are callous masses of atoms
Aug 20, 2020
Aug 20, 2020 at 5:37 PM UTC
Creature comforts
Have a way of sinking at sea
Better to keep your feet
Fixed on firm ground
Then live life on the raft
Mar 30, 2020
Mar 30, 2020 at 2:49 PM UTC
We all have heard the stories
Of spirit ships and ghosts
That sail upon the oceans
And up along the coasts
This tale is a whopper
And I'll not forget the day
So as God is my witness
Listen now, to what I say
We were sitting in the tavern
Telling tales of days of old
When the door, it burst right open
And Bill came running from the cold
His face as white as ever
Like he just had seen a ghost
When we told him that we thought this
He said " I did, just up the coast"
We laughed and ordered whiskey
To warm us up inside
"I did, by gum, I saw it"
"I saw the Nell McBride"
"There's no way that you saw that boat"
"It's been sunk a hundred years"
"A hundred sixty" said a voice
As we tended to our beers
"The Nell McBride was lost boys"
"Late eighteen and fifty nine"
"You didn't see her Billy"
"She's sunk down in the brine"
" I did" said Bill , "I saw her"
"I was standing on up the beach"
"She came out of the clouds there"
"Aw, Bill... cut back on the screech"
"I haven't had a drop today"
"And you know, I don't tell lies"
"I saw the Captain up on deck"
"I looked right in his eyes'
The wind was really howling
We all huddled round the fire
As far fetched as the story was
Old Bill, he was no liar
"The Nell McBride was lost at sea"
"All 14 men were drowned"
"The ship went to the bottom"
"And no bodies were found"
The barkeep chirped "We have ghosts here"
"I have seen a few"
"With all those lost at sea near here"
"I believe in them, don't you?"
We laughed at him and Billy
Ghosts, nope, dead is dead
Bill just sat there shaking
He believed the words he'd said
Now, me, I was a pup then
Just a minnow if you please
But, I sat and felt my hair rise up
I'd not heard of ghosts like these
"The last time the Nell McBride"
"Was seen was in ought four"
"Old Johnson, at the light house"
"Said he saw that ship and more"
"They proved Old Johnson crazy"
"All alone out with the light"
"Was just the moon a playing"
"There was nothing there that night"
Another man chimed in then
"Old Johnson was no loon"
"His diary says he say that ship"
"'Twas no trick of the moon"
"Okay then boys, tomorrow"
"We'll meet here and head on out"
"We'll see the ghost out sailing"
"Or we'll see that she is now't"
The wind was really whipping
It was getting louder as they sat
Nobody was heading home
They were safer where they sat
"Ghost ships sail the waters"
"I believe to warn us still"
"I believe The Nell is out there"
"I believe in our boy Bill"
"There's tales of ships and mermaids"
"There's been sighting of great whales"
"Their stories boy's just stories"
"They ain't nothing more than tales"
At this the wind was screaming
Like a wail now or a scream
My hair was up directly
This could only be a dream
"I remember when Mike Watson"
"Said he saw that woman all in black"
"Waiting on her rooftop"
"For her husband to come back"
"I remember that as well" said Bill
"God, old Mike he loved to talk"
"He saw her on the roof in black"
"On the iron widows walk"
So, tomorrow it was settled
We would meet and hit the coast
Watching for the Nell McBride
Waiting for the ghost
"Boys, we never made it"
"We don't talk about that night"
"See, Billy boy, he left us there"
"And he disappeared from sight"
"Turns out Billy Boyle"
"Drowned early in the day"
"Was it his ghost come calling"
"It is not for us to say"
"Bill Boyle washed ashore you see"
"About two...yep he was dead"
"So just was it that came to us"
"And said the things he said"
"There's ghosts out on the water"
"Like the ghostly Nell McBride"
"I swear and cross my heart now"
"But, boys...you must decide"
Mar 24, 2020
Mar 24, 2020 at 12:12 AM UTC
Wood creeks
Ignored for their own work.
Sweat dollops came from rope tying
Strength of communication: my name was said twenty paces away.
Disappointing my feet, they lost their navigation.
Cracking my shoulder into someone shorter.
wind past my ears.
her safety: my worry.
Bent my knees she did not scream
Tree nuts candied in my dreams highlighted her eyes.
Smile, with each other.
Pushing her to stand
I held her hand
Spoken our trips to previous lands.
choosing to be each others
to
to the others fro
Feb 19, 2020
Feb 19, 2020 at 8:25 AM UTC
Pirates of pleasure
In foreign waters
Access to excess
The fingers linger
On a perfect rounded bottom
In a conga line
Lust is a bust
This is no love boat
It's headed for dry dock
As a floating hospital
Swimming the high seas
With some unknown disease
Jan 26, 2020
Jan 26, 2020 at 11:02 AM UTC
I must confess my love,
Ships in the night, my dove,
I do but see you driving by,
I'll love you till the end of time,
But I do not to pieces to fall,
Fragments of love, that's all,
A smile, a wave, a brief hello,
I confess my love, where did you go?
Or where do you come from, my dove?
To you, I confess my secret love..........
Sep 28, 2019
Sep 28, 2019 at 5:19 PM UTC