"mainsail" poems
Arrrh, here we be again
at "Talk like a Pirate day"
we'll spew our gaffs and have some laughs
slappin wenches bums, while we're at play
We'll have some grog
mockin the captain's log
reading lines of sea bound times
and cabin boys, he's flogged
When the eve be ov'r
and drunken we'll awake
it's out to sea, we'll all be
nursing our headache
Our love for wenches stowed
miseries bandon'd in the hold
mainsail's set, we'll not ferget
we be pirates, young and old
Sep 19, 2018
Sep 19, 2018 at 8:55 AM UTC
on a rainy day your body spread over a picnic table
like an egg yolk, and you swallowed the word profound
again and again.
someone from your past
has gone beneath the ocean, leafless
and you can hear the wailing from here to the saginaw
people begin to breathe blood: they’re choking up, soughing
“be easy buddy” and
“he wanted a black eye for prom so i punched him in the face”
flowers arrived at the door, a ghost, an ear of corn
while everything yearned tall: frames, shadows,
in st. louis you circle a bit of claret earth
spotting your sister’s face in the mirror, leaving linseed and shreds
i could never ask how you are.
the wail is a train whistle, i hear it pauses
for no softness of flesh, these midwestern daughters
she loved all living things.
imagine carefully painting a boat
a pencil in your teeth,
cutting through earth, the nantucket sound
you’re going to take your boat beyond
this firmament, you know, we’re all
waiting through this salty crush
sinking below a winter current
this is all yours now:
mainsail, rudder, hard-a-lee
you darling masters of the sea.
for PW and LE. goodnight.
Apr 7, 2013
Apr 7, 2013 at 8:31 PM UTC
Cold rains, wet and weary... seeping through the sky,
spectres pass ’long side me... bent, with collars high,
my visions are invisible and no one sees me cry.
Minstrels of destruction... rapping at my door,
naked anvils aching... heavy hammers roar,
their monodies of emptiness pulse, bleeding through the floor.
House of cards collapsing... sagging walls of wax,
deuces in dissension... aces slip through cracks,
the Joker’s lost and lumbers by, alone, along the tracks.
Steeple steps dismantled... muted bells below,
ruins quake and tremble... frozen in the snow,
their pains implode within my brain while pale winds cruelly blow.
Prophets tumble temples... residues of tea
highways of no entrance... paths of destiny,
where phantoms haunt my nightmare dreams, tell tales of roaming free.
Foghorns moaning lonely... waves awash in sound
silver schooner sinking... swirling round and round,
at midnight’s stroke, the mainsail broke, and driftwood drifts aground.
Silent seas misshapen... moonbeams painted ***
teaspoons sifting ashes... fingers cold and numb,
an incandescent candlestick’s impaled the sinking sun.
Smothered fires smoking... oceans filled with ice,
lightning lashing windows... blades from paradise,
like tongues of limpid laughter licking wounds of sacrifice.
Flowing fields of flowers... silent harmony,
rolling river reveries... washing to the sea,
my love, she was my daylight bliss, she once belonged to me.
Aug 23, 2013
Aug 23, 2013 at 3:13 PM UTC
Run before the wind
Pay out the mainsail and jib
Desire strongly gusts
Oct 4, 2012
Oct 4, 2012 at 12:13 PM UTC
The endless void swells with the breeze
Of countless stars like tapestries
That sail their ancient primal songs
With all the creatures of the dawn
Myriad waves of force in rhyme
Bend the stone mast with the time
While rainbow’s chorus sings to life
To sail beyond the sea of strife
Introspect , the bottomless key
To stand an island in the sea
And watch the mainsail fill with breeze
On the ship of evermore
The ripples in the endless maw
Sing of mighty tortoise paw
The force that out survives the claw
Of time and matter’s law
Within the harbor of my mind
I search the ocean in the time
To see if I will ever find
My ship to sail the sea of rhyme
Introspect the bottomless key
To stand an island in the sea
And watch the mainsail fill with breeze
On the ship of evermore
Into tomorrow’s skies we fly
On wings of light and castle brine
To see if we will ever find
Within the harbors of our minds
Our ships to sail the sea of rhyme
With the force that out survives the time
In the yellow forest with the trees of time
Talking with the wind there between the wheels of rhyme
Just another color looking for the ocean with it’s mind
Mar 25, 2015
Mar 25, 2015 at 1:10 PM UTC
lost horizon
daylight streams down her face
liquid it expresses her hope
a ship adrift on the open sea
with only the dump-ducks to herald her passing
her tiller tied off on a course for the Flemish Cap
deep in the rolling North Atlantic waves the
sounds of the sea begin to speak to you
they weave tales on rainswept deck
they sing shanty's on the lines for the mainsail
the sea is a living thing
with her many moods
and utter crisp beauty
in a dead calm, middle of the Atlantic
no clouds
the stars reflected perfectly off the water
and you are afloat in a sea of lights
iv never seen anything more moving
but beware my friend
she is friend and a foe
i lost a friend out on thouse endless miles
his ship adrift
tiller tied off on a course for the Flemish cap
if you go to sea
be respectful
of the grand dame
and she will show you wonders that will
capture your soul
May 27, 2013
May 27, 2013 at 10:38 PM 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
What may be this stormy brilliance
come upon my weary watch
Oh what fresh'ning wind befall me
on this perilous small yacht
Shall I shelter in calm harbors,
set a course for un-adventure,
reef my sails, take in the main,
keep it safe for my debenture
Or is mine the priceless treasure
on some island beach I'll find,
if I rig my weather mainsail,
and prepare my boat for rime
Set the genoa to run out,
shift my rudder to the force,
let the weather take a free turn,
let the helmsman plot the course
So be still my racing heartbeat,
be thee calm my apprehension,
give me over to these winds that blow,
it could only cost pretension
Aug 16, 2014
Aug 16, 2014 at 8:42 PM 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 endless void swells with the breeze
Of countless stars like tapestries
That sail their ancient primal songs
With all the creatures of the dawn
Myriad waves of force in rhyme
Bend the stone mast with the time
While rainbow’s chorus sings to life
To sail beyond the sea of strife
Introspect , the bottomless key
To stand an island in the sea
And watch the mainsail fill with breeze
On the ship of evermore
The ripples in the endless maw
Sing of mighty tortoise paw
The force that out survives the claw
Of time and matter’s law
Within the harbor of my mind
I search the ocean in the time
To see if I will ever find
My ship to sail the sea of rhyme
Introspect the bottomless key
To stand an island in the sea
And watch the mainsail fill with breeze
On the ship of evermore
Into tomorrow’s skies we fly
On wings of light and castle brine
To see if we will ever find
Within the harbors of our minds
Our ships to sail the sea of rhyme
With the force that out survives the time
In the yellow forest with the trees of time
Talking with the wind there between the wheels of rhyme
Just another color looking for the ocean with it’s mind
Oct 4, 2022
Oct 4, 2022 at 3:19 PM UTC