"battened" poems
We embarked upon a titanic voyage to a new world.
It’s said that behind every great man there's a great woman; But a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.
7 bells rang late that night, as our ship stuck fast; between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Fingers frantic! tapping code…—-…
Sailors quickly battened down the hatches and stowed away the Riff-raff, for they knew fine words would butter no parsnips, Better here than there in third class.
Some fiddlers on the deck played “Nearer My God to Thee", As the bubbles rose from beneath the sea, come buckle down boys for the devils to pay, come hell or high water he’ll have his pay.
Mothers row, land lubbers row, it's time to leave this god forsaken place. pulling hard for freedom.
Ten steel decks split and snap, as they join the ***** and hundreds either shriek or pray; as La dolce vita slowly ebbed away.
Mercifully the cacophony descends ever silent, as fifteen hundred souls become neither fish nor flesh, rotting from the head down.
Save our souls •••- - - •••. … — …
Oct 10, 2018
Oct 10, 2018 at 4:15 PM UTC
i kept my hatches battened but that
didn't stop your love from barreling toward me
like a runaway freight train with faulty breaks.
and god almighty, did we crash.
you came to a screeching halt at my doorstep
and i didn't know what else to do but let you in.
you looked so cold. we did not start with a spark but a full-on fire.
i told myself i wouldn't fall, instead i jumped.
our sinking frames somehow morphed into life preservers,
and we managed to keep each other's heads above the waves.
we had seemingly saved one another.
you tossed your pills, i flushed my razors, and for a while that was enough.
but we learned the hard way that even the deepest love
can only keep the storm clouds in your mind at bay for so long.
eventually our cracks began to show.
missed calls and silent hours built houses of cards
that were blown down by too many miles.
we hardly ever smiled anymore.
my hands were sieves and yours were sand.
i want to break the hands of the clock
that cursed us with this bad timing.
i have mourned all the hours i won't ever have with you.
i have felt the thunder that rumbles in my lungs
when i reminisce about the memories we'll never make.
the moment i realized i would never wake up beside you
an atom bomb went off in the center of my chest.
but the radiation is what's killing me.
the life is being drained from me here in the wake,
in the ache of your absence. but i won't beg.
i will live out the remainder of my days
tormented by wondering if maybe in another world
our love is perfect and neither of us bleed.
- m.f.
Jan 12, 2014
Jan 12, 2014 at 3:27 AM UTC
A ship in a bottle is a useless thing,
encapsulated, isolated.
It is meant to be crewed.
We are each holographic captains
seeking first mates
and yeomen to climb the riggings
and guide us through the storms.
Floating colonies needing founding,
battened hatches guarding dwindling
stores and shielding superstitious
sailors galore.
We must learn to trust our
crews and captains alike to
brave the rough seas and
coral reefs of life and
nature's faith.
Sometimes ships run aground,
the founding of the colony,
and then sandcastles reign supreme.
We must learn to trust our
crews and captains alike to
learn from their faith in nature.
We must build upon the dunes,
carrying buckets of water and
trust from the sea to inland
shores. The castle, like the ship,
will one day be reclaimed by the
sea, despite our efforts.
We build them anyway out of hope,
fearing faith, learning trust, while
wishing we were safe in a bottle.
Nov 12, 2013
Nov 12, 2013 at 8:23 AM UTC
The clouds hid the red sky that day
Amid the wind and rain
No red sky meant no sailors warning
The waves broke high and hard
They passed the breakers and the kegs
They missed the red sky morning
The ships out on the water
From the shore to the Grand Banks
Were helpless in the coming storm
No choice to turn and run
The best bet was stay put
There was no port to get warm
The skies were filled with nothingness
the clouds like a sharks eye
Shades of black were all they saw
The icy waves of winter
Broke the calm of the early morn
For red sky in the morning is an unwritten sailors law
The Captain closed the bar down
On the Digby ferry crossing
The doors were being opened by each wave
They couldn't see the white caps
Only sky and see was all
And the souls he had to save
There were fifteen boats in transit
When the storm came bearing down
Most were halfway home or so
Now they all were stranded
In the journey between heaven and hell
Which direction they were headed only God would know
Turn sideways and you'd flip it
Just sit still and you were dead
You had to ride the water hellish ride
Hatches all were battened
Windows sealed and doors shut tight
Sailors tried to stay inside
Water spouts were forming
Off the stern and then the port
Navigate the safest spot and keep low
The door to Davy Jones' locker
Was opened and ready to accept
Any boat who made the choice to venture down below
On shore the coast guard were all scrambled
Planes were sent out just in case
More to recover than to save
Families awaited word by radio
The lines from all the ships were down
Some lost to a watery grave
Each year the ocean opens up
Mother Nature takes some back
It's just the circle of life at sea
Prayers are said at the Mariners Hall
Bells are rung for the dead
The sailors soul belongs to the water and it never can be free
Are you one that lives on water?
You know one day your luck will end
You knew this fact from the start
Sailors know the sea's a minefield
It's a war with God each day
You have to fight with all your heart
Apr 14, 2013
Apr 14, 2013 at 8:44 PM UTC
Clouds are forming layers
The sky is turning gray
Wind is dancing happily
The trees begin to sway
Creatures crawl inside
Fires stoked up to heat
Hatches battened down
Prayers said for the wheat
The ditches might flood
Roofing will be torn apart
But Idaho storms are lovely
Like a beautiful work of art.
Dec 5, 2010
Dec 5, 2010 at 3:50 PM UTC
There was a time when we were strangers;
ships that passed in the cover of night.
We sailed parallel those lonely waters
not knowing that soon we'd be in sight.
There was a time when we were friends;
you wished only to reach the shore,
but my compass was spinning, our journey just beginning
and so I took you aboard.
There was a time when we were lovers,
but our ship soon started to leak.
We battened the hatches, bailing her out,
but hopes were battered and meek.
An unspoken pact and a final kiss,
letting you drift from my fingertips.
I readied the very last lifeboat,
but the captain goes down with the ship.
Strangers become lovers and lovers become strangers
through sailing the seas of time,
but this mariners tragedy's worth the memories
of when I called you mine.
Jul 3, 2017
Jul 3, 2017 at 11:10 PM UTC
I’d only been home for a week or two
And Jeanine was acting queer,
Each time she’d pass the mirror she’d stare
And I heard her say, ‘Oh dear!’
I’d been away for five long years
But she hadn’t changed a bit,
Each time I’d ask, she’d cover her ears:
‘I have to go to The Crypt!’
I thought that she meant the local club
Where they drank and danced all night,
‘Aren’t you a little too old for that,’
I’d say, and her face turned white.
‘You’re only as old as you feel,’ she snapped,
‘If only,’ was my reply,
‘Whether we like it or not, we age,
And then, we finally die.’
She put her hands to her ears, and shrieked,
‘Don’t ever say that to me!
You can die, but I’ll still go on,
I’ll be what I want to be.’
I stood quite shocked as she raved, she cried
And turned and ran from the room,
I didn’t know what to make of her,
So sat, half stunned in the gloom.
She’d always worried about her looks
Had made up her face for hours,
I’d said, ‘You’re really compulsive, Sis,’
She’d take innumerable showers.
I said, ‘You’re washing yourself away,
There’ll be no oil in your skin.’
‘But don’t you think that I’m beautiful,’
She’d say, with an evil grin.
She’d never married, but dated men
Who would compliment on her looks,
‘He said I’m like Cleopatra,’ or,
‘Like Helen of Troy in the books!’
‘Words are cheap,’ I would say to her
And she’d fly right into a rage,
‘You’re always trying to put me down!’
‘You’re like a bird in a cage!
Always fluffing your feathers up
To say, ‘Hey look at me!’
Don’t you care for the things in life
That are not complimentary?’
But she would shrug and ignore me then
She was vain beyond compare,
I didn’t know that she’d signed a pact
With the Devil, in her despair.
The weeks went by and her mood got worse,
She was nervous, I could see,
Her hands would tremble and she would curse
Applying her toiletry.
The wrinkles set in around her eyes
‘So much for that cream I bought!
I’ll have to go to The Crypt,’ she cried,
And burst in tears at the thought.
One day I spied her out in the street
Down by a ruined church,
She forced her way past the battened door
And disappeared with a lurch.
I waited hours, out there in the street
To see when she’d reappear,
Then realised she’d gone to the crypt
In the bowels of that church, in there.
She came out walking, as in a trance,
So beautiful, redefined,
I couldn’t believe the change in her,
I thought that I’d lost my mind.
The girl I saw was only a shell
Of the woman who once was whole,
Whoever she’d met in that evil crypt
Had walked away with her soul!
David Lewis Paget
Jul 17, 2013
Jul 17, 2013 at 5:24 AM UTC
The sky grew dark
and the wind full voiced
so I furled my single sail.
I battened down the hatches
fearful of the coming gale
the clouds were low and threatening
They oft are this time of year.
They made me wish I could be somewhere,
anywhere, but here.
Random bolts of lightening streaked
across the sullen sky.
Waves took and shook my little boat.
I thought that I might die.
A tingle of anxiety
I felt it in my gut
Imagine how relieved I felt
when the director hollered "Cut!"
Jun 4, 2013
Jun 4, 2013 at 10:39 PM UTC
It's not debatable
We are meant to be
Indestructible
Talking you and me
Two peas in our pod
Grooving home alone
No, no, no don't you touch that telephone
After nuzzling comes the cuddling
I like you next to me
So glad you like the dark chocolate
Here's the milk with honey
Let's binge watch our new fave
You're all the company I could ever want
Thanks for loving me
We've battened up the hatches
The rain ain't coming in
We're in this for the long haul
Three day weekends are just right,
To hang out with my baby doll
Morning, noon and night.
Oct 14, 2016
Oct 14, 2016 at 1:37 PM UTC
primal cave
warm
coals glow
in an iron grate
dream lives flicker
in dancing flames
hatches battened
around the ramparts
of terraced council home
droplets run
on window panes
coursing rivers
to the sea
we are alone
suspended natural animation
with only ourselves
to blame
Dec 8, 2021
Dec 8, 2021 at 6:13 PM UTC
I will wait outside
because you've locked the doors,
battened down the hatches,
and prepared for a storm
but the day will come
when you’re not afraid anymore
and I’ll be where you left me
because I've always been yours.
Feb 9, 2015
Feb 9, 2015 at 12:52 PM UTC
Talk to me, can you hear me O’ Lord?
Send me something that I can not ignore,
Staring at seas from the cold lonely shore,
What of future?
Can the angels be calling?
I was young when you embraced me,
When you opened my mind to the world’s mystery,
I came home and started a family,
Three bundles of joy near a bountiful sea,
…and this life?
Has the Age begun falling?
Cattle left unattended and the goats without shepherd?
Were sacrifices left for the goat, bull, crab or leopard?
Battened down hatches as rains poured in the cube,
The square in the circle that Saturn had drew,
Eerie creaks, minor leaks, anxiety and the fear,
Prophesied, built as planned, as the waters drew near,
Talk to me, I am struggling O’ Lord,
Is this it? The message that cannot be ignored,
I was young when you embraced me,
When you showed me the wonders of the land and the sea,
I built you this house and filled it with Thee,
Will we make it?
The waves are appalling...
One Man knew where his place was with god, inundation, extirpation, traded hammer for rod.
A Great Bird of Paradise, was beckoning her call, swarms of bats and songbirds ahead of the squall.
Open the porthole; we are saving them all, as the ship sets loose as the giants did fall.
Drop the rope, do it now, so we can, plumb the depth,
She cried out;
“Where to live, who will rule and what shall be left?”
“O’ Noah!”
I’m now old, but will you embrace me?
I now know you’ve been there since the dawning of history,
We’re adrift, all is lost and their drowning in sea,
Nothing’s left, but the gig-an-to-machy,
The reigns of your horse are now pulling us free,
“Release all the doves for I know now that he is with me!”
“O’ Noah!”
They were young, when you embraced us,
You gave us your love and did what you must,
I have given my life, for all that was needed,
Serpent’s mount, where we stood, as the waters receded,
“O’ Lord! Oh…”
Jul 1, 2016
Jul 1, 2016 at 10:31 AM UTC
She writhes
as though her soul
were battened by bra-straps...
The only sound
that ever
mattered
was a
breathy moan
beside her burning earlobe
while her eyelids
squeezed tight enough
to envelop her.
Sep 24, 2012
Sep 24, 2012 at 3:14 AM UTC
There is no dressing this up,
or hiding behind
protective walls of feigned indifference;
our ending is sad.
It is not a transformative stop
where hatches are battened down
with the promise of spring burst,
our leaves will stay away,
for good;
the midst of us going
is final
as
bills
for flowers
on hearse.
Not that we thought our days would last
indefinitely,
we didn't think at all
of the days of not knowing what to do,
without me
and you.
Nov 13, 2015
Nov 13, 2015 at 3:52 PM UTC
She wore red satin
Dancing discreetly under stars
Love's hatches were battened
Riding in freshly painted cars
She swore off men
With big mouths and no ears
As she longed for her story to be told
To everyone, young and old
She came from ***** streets
Trash bins filled with beer cans
But she was born to keep a beat
Tapping, tapping her feet
Until everyone had gotten up from their seats
She works the stage
Like its the only thing she's ever known
Pacing and swaying
It's where she knew she had truly grown
A strong woman
With a heart of gold
Flowing hair of the angels
And a demeanor truly bold
Her daddy was a stern man
He'd come home
Still with drink in hand
Looking to pick a bone
But her face could calm
Even the most violent of men
Her occupation then was diffusing bombs
When she got older
And realized her life wasn't hers
She grew colder
Left her father
And became the killer
Everybody wants
Dec 28, 2012
Dec 28, 2012 at 5:33 PM UTC
We checked the forecast
and readied ourselves,
Battened down the hatches
and stoked the fire,
Begged the foundations
to hold these walls.
Ribbons of rain licked the roof.
Iron clouds swallowed the sky.
The Storm, like a bailiff,
hammered the door.
For hours He hammered
and hammered again.
Like an unwanted salesman
selling us fear,
He stayed at our door
and hammered some more.
There was no use fighting;
He was stronger than us.
So with gritted teeth
and tear-soaked eyes,
we prayed for morning to come.
And it did.
Jan 14, 2017
Jan 14, 2017 at 11:17 AM UTC
This is a story from long ago
in the third month of the year
when on a clear and sunny day
a mighty ship set sail, crew without a fear.
They sailed along for days
on tranquil quiet seas,
clear skies, no clouds in sight
just a hushed but working breeze.
The sails were set to catch the wind
though it wasn't much.
The crew enjoyed the journey;
the captain had never seen it such.
The voyage was calm and glassy smooth;
the ship sailed along with ease.
They made great time toward their goal.
Captain Caesar was quite pleased.
On day fifteen things seemed to change;
the ship rocked a bit and swayed.
The "breeze" began to come in gusts;
still crew and captain neither were afraid.
They'd been in storms on land.
They'd been in storms at sea.
So they battened down the hatches
and turned the ship to lee.
The wind grew and swelled,
got stronger.
It moaned and caterwauled.
"SOS! All hands on deck!"
Captain Caesar called.
Black clouds grew as the storm brewed,
the sailors nervous now.
Huge waves crashed and splashed
like foamy giants pounding
on the stern and on the bow.
The ship was rocked about.
The crew began to pray.
It brought them to their knees.
As they slipped and slid
they wailed "Save us, save us, please!"
The mainsail split, the lines came loose
flapping wildly all around.
The big ship creaked and groaned.
It made a deathly sound.
Now the ship was going down.
"Deliver us from this fate.
Don't let us sink, don't let us drown!"
pleaded first and second mate.
The ship continued to descend
into the briny depths.
No help appeared, no ship came near.
These would be their final breaths.
The ship was nearly gone.
The sails had lost all starch.
As the crows' nest sank from sight,
Captain Caesar yelled,
"Beware the Tides of March!"
May 18, 2017
May 18, 2017 at 9:09 PM UTC
Hattie
Came slowly.
She was sullen and strong as
She crossed the carribbean shrouded in gray.
The warning was short as we battened down tight.
A blustery,piercing howling beast.
Mighty trees knelt down.
Souls washed away.
Hattie shook
Rattled
Rolled.
That
Day.
Nov 23, 2012
Nov 23, 2012 at 7:32 PM UTC
Teeth click with a snap, fangs bared in another threat.
Fur up, hackles raised.
She's growling at ghosts now, mountain song and cracking boulders.
Hisses slice the silence up, sharped knife against paper thin.
Those eyes are wide, ruby death staring into the abyss.
Pupils so wide they hide the red, now they're sinking into slits.
That red glows, that red speaks deep.
The things that she's seen. The things that she's seen.
Lips pulled back, ears battened down.
Shoulders hunched, head lowered.
Lethal crown ready as the flowers fall one by one.
She is a monster.
She is a god.
And what are Gods if not monsters?
Those black hooves strike the ground, one single drumbeat.
Death dealers.
Scars bristle under shining fur.
Nightmare no longer monochrome.
Those teeth snap again, sharp click.
Angry sound.
Bitter beast.
Lost potential.
Lost past.
Lost soul.
She is the remainder.
The One That Endures.
The One Who Stands Still.
Remember who she once was.
She is the devourer.
She is the creator.
The waning light and the shock of lighting.
Remember what she is now.
Outsider.
Shell.
Imperfect space.
Mother.
Wanderer.
The Lost One.
The Broken Thing.
She breaks, she mends.
Trys to get better then slips again.
You can't escape the red.
Can't leave the dead.
She sees all their skeletons.
Their blood is on her hands.
In her heart.
Their voices sound in her head.
Screaming their damnation.
Screaming their pleas.
She is a nobody
And you just made a mistake
Sep 29, 2015
Sep 29, 2015 at 2:45 AM UTC
This is a story from long ago
in the third month of the year
when on a clear and sunny day
a mighty ship set sail, crew without a fear.
They sailed along for days
on tranquil quiet seas,
clear skies, no clouds in sight
just a hushed but working breeze.
The sails were set to catch the wind
though it wasn't much.
The crew enjoyed the journey;
the captain had never seen it such.
The voyage was calm and glassy smooth;
the ship sailed along with ease.
They made great time toward their goal.
Captain Caesar was quite pleased.
On day fifteen things seemed to change;
the ship rocked a bit and swayed.
The "breeze" began to come in gusts;
still crew and captain neither were afraid.
They'd been in storms on land.
They'd been in storms at sea.
So they battened down the hatches
and turned the ship to lee.
The wind grew and swelled,
got stronger.
It moaned and caterwauled.
"SOS! All hands on deck!"
Captain Caesar called.
Black clouds grew as the storm brewed,
the sailors nervous now.
Huge waves crashed and splashed
like foamy giants pounding
on the stern and on the bow.
The ship was rocked about.
The crew began to pray.
It brought them to their knees.
As they slipped and slid
they wailed "Save us, save us, please!"
The mainsail split, the lines came loose
flapping wildly all around.
The big ship creaked and groaned.
It made a deathly sound.
Now the ship was going down.
"Deliver us from this fate.
Don't let us sink, don't let us drown!"
pleaded first and second mate.
The ship continued to descend
into the briny depths.
No help appeared, no ship came near.
These would be their final breaths.
The ship was nearly gone.
The sails had lost all starch.
As the crows' nest sank from sight,
Captain Caesar yelled,
"Beware the Tides of March!"
Mar 15, 2018
Mar 15, 2018 at 7:33 PM UTC
The louvers of the
windows to my heart are shut
to the storm of love.
Dec 16, 2014
Dec 16, 2014 at 3:48 AM UTC
Sometimes I think if I'll ever have that conversation with you.
I mean, sometimes I wonder if I'll ever even have another conversation with you.
But if I do, I hope it'll be one where you ask the question you shouldn't.
"Do you still love me?"
I replay this scenario over and over and over, going through what I could say.
Whether you'd blush, whether you'd cry. Whether it'll all be okay.
And maybe my words will be like kindling to the fire we once had, a catalyst to an experiment of old.
But it's said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again, expecting different results.
I think I've gone past insanity, I've closed up, I've battened down the hatches and weathered the storms of my psyche.
But I'm not sure if I prefer the emptiness of these open seas, and I think feeling something, is better than feeling nothing.
I am a broken tape of our favourite film, filled with too many memories to just throw away.
Except now, I can only loop the **** part.
Sometimes I think if I'll ever have that conversation with you.
I mean, sometimes I wonder if I'll ever even have another conversation with you.
But if I do, it'll be one where you don't ask the question you should.
"Do you still love me?"
Jul 18, 2018
Jul 18, 2018 at 5:18 PM UTC
The man had a terrible temper,
Would rage at the skies above,
Would screech and howl, like a midnight owl,
He’d been unlucky in love.
He’d stomp about in the village square,
Go out, and look for a fight,
The villagers always avoided him
When he’d roam around at night.
Then he’d come and knock at my own front door
Demanding to talk to Jill,
I’d hear her say from the passageway,
‘I don’t want to talk to Bill!
I’d had enough when he beat me up
And my heart would never heal,
Just tell him I’m sticking with you, my love,
I know that your love is real!’
He’d punch the door, then he’d stand and roar
So I’d slam the door in his face,
He kicked a panel across the floor
And I said I’d call the police!
I heard him muttering as he left,
‘Come out, I’ll give you a fight,
Tell Jill she’s dead if she’s in your bed,
I’ll call in the dead of night!’
I took the hammer and nails outside
And battened the shutters down,
Then strung an electrical tripwire that
Would pulverise the clown,
‘The man’s as mad as a meat axe, Jill,
Bi-Polar, that’s for sure,’
‘More of a schizophrenic, Jim,
‘Be sure to bar the door.’
We’d sit in a petrified silence in
The cottage, every night,
Listening for the slightest sound
If something wasn’t right,
The roof would creak as the timber cooled
And the wind soughed through the eaves,
We even strained by the window panes
At the patter of Autumn leaves.
‘How long are we going to put up with this,’
I said to Jill, one morn,
‘He’s tempting fate by the garden gate,
He’s been there since the dawn.’
‘I’m going to have to confront him,’ said
The darling of my life,
I hadn’t proposed to her just then
But I hoped she’d be my wife.
She walked on out to the garden gate
And I heard him raise his voice,
I couldn’t quite make his words out, but
He was giving her a choice.
Then Jill I heard in a voice that stirred
From the depths of a gravel pit,
And he went white with a look of fright
And he left, and that was it!
‘What did you say to the maniac
That he turned and went away?’
She smiled, and cuddled on into me,
‘I think I made his day.
I said that I’d go back home with him
But I’d poison his meat and drinks,
Or slit his throat when asleep one night…’
He hasn’t been back here since!
David Lewis Paget
Dec 18, 2014
Dec 18, 2014 at 4:50 AM UTC
By now I know no other path could lead
Me to be the person that you’ve become.
Your presence in itself, means I succeed-
-ed in my life, trials to overcome.
When jackals reared their heads, you stayed your course.
When sunshine failed to shine, you found a light.
And in the times when clouded by remorse,
You battened down, enduring through the night.
As for me, I know not what Life will bring.
An undecided life for me to steer.
To learn why songbirds ever choose to sing,
I’ll follow as thou hast and never fear.
I know that as I choose to follow Him,
We will be there, in vict’ry over sin.
Mar 31, 2019
Mar 31, 2019 at 12:42 AM UTC