A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.
quote by Grace Murray Hopper
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The ship according to the gospel of Arsenio
A ship in the harbor is safe
But that is not the reason why ships are built
That is not what ships are
They are made to sail
To go not to stay
They are designed
To float
“Safety, security and survival
Are not the goals of our lives”
“Life is an adventure
Not maintenance”
At its end
The ship is always for
Sinking.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.
quote by William Shedd
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My Ships
If all the ships I have at sea
Should come a-sailing home to me,
From sunny lands, and lands of cold,
Ah well! the harbor could not hold
So many sails as there would be
If all my ships came in from sea.
If half my ships came home from sea,
And brought their precious freight to me,
Ah, well! I should have wealth as great
As any king who sits in state,
So rich the treasures that would be
In half my ships now at sea.
If just one ship I have at sea
Should come a-sailing home to me,
Ah well! the storm clouds then might frown,
For if the others all went down
Still rich and proud and glad I’d be,
If that one ship came back to me.
If that one ship were down at sea,
And all the others came to me,
Weighed down with gems and wealth untold,
With glory, honor, riches, gold,
The poorest soul on earth I’d be
If that one ship came not to me.
O skies be calm! O winds blow free--
Blow all my ships safe home to me.
But if thou sendest some awrack
To never more come sailing back,
Send any--all that skim the sea--
But bring my love-ship home to me.
poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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041710i Feathered Stowaways
we have our eyes following the rescue boat
circling the mother ship then pick up by a lift
we went back to where we are doing our task
some sit around waiting for things to happened
some prepare food for three thousands aboard
some keep us cruising, safe, and comfortably afloat
i notice doves flying around the hangar bay
five of them, they fly out then come to play
they love going against the draft, then dive in
they might have food stash somewhere overhead
i’ve seen doves on the other ships do the same
when we get in port, fly out and never be seen
poem by Manonton Dalan
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A ship in harbor is safe--- but that is not what ships are for.
quote by John A. Shedd
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A ship in harbor is safe -- but that is not what ships are for.
quote by John A. Shedd
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Eavan's Grandma
She feared the women
at the port when her
husband's ship docked
there the port.
She went to the port
to see her husband
each time he arrived
I like the man
and the wife.
'Aren't they
the same kind of girls
anyway? ' he thinks,
she doesn't know it.
(Oct.5,1997)
poem by Sangnam Nam
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Songs from The Beggar’s Opera: Air X-“Thomas, I Cannot
Polly. I like a ship in storms was tossed,
Yet afraid to put into land,
For seized in the port the vessel’s lost
Whose treasure is contraband.
The waves are laid,
My duty’s paid;
O joy beyond expression!
Thus safe ashore
I ask no more;
My all is in my possession.
A SAILOR'S WIFE
Into port when the sun was setting
Rode the ship that bore my love,
Over the breakers wildly fretting,
Under the skies above.
Down to the beach I ran to meet him;
He would come as he had said:
And he came—in a sailor's coffin,
Dead! . . . . . .
O the ships of the sea! the lovers
Torn by them apart!...
The tide has nothing now to tell me,
The breakers break my heart!
poem by Cale Young Rice from Sea Poems (1921)
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Closer To Home
(m&l - farner)
Everybody listen to me
And return me
My ship
Im your captain
Im your captain
No Im feeling mighty sick
Ive been lost now
Days uncounted
And its months since
Ive seen home
Can you hear me
Can you hear me
Oh am I all alone
If you return me
To my home port
I will kiss you
Mother earth
Take me back now
Take me back now
To the port
Of my birth
To the port
Of my birth
Am I in my cabin dreaming
Or are you really schemeing
To take my ship away from me?
You better think about it
I just cant live without it
So please dont take my ship from me
Yeah yeah yeah
I can feel the hand
Of the stranger
As its tightening
Around my throat
Heaven help me
Heaven help me
Take this stranger
From my boat
Im your captain
Im your captain
Though Im feeling mighty sick
Everybody listen to me
And return me my ship
Im your captain
Yeah yeah yeah, m getting closer to my home
song performed by by Helloween
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Voyage through obscurity
A man is standing alone on shore in darkness on a foggy night. He is looking out over the water when suddenly he hears a ships fog horn. He can not see the ship but the repeated sound of the horn and his present state of mind he begins to associate himself with this ship.
The man is at a crossroad in his life. He knows his life has been unsatisfactory up to now and is posed with a choice as to how to proceed in the future. One way is risky, the other is safe.
A heavy fog looms over the water.
A far-off horn somewhere in the distance
Wails its melancholic voice of despair
Repeatedly with urgent persistence.
On shore I stand alone in the darkness
Feeling a coexistence with this ship
That navigates blindly more or less
Onward a potential perilous trip.
Where is my life taking me on its voyage?
What is my warning device? Do I scream
Out loud when life’s pitfalls impede my way?
Shall I navigate without a light beam
Through life’s hazardous chartered odyssey
Or flounder searching for safe guarantees?
poem by Albert Ahearn
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At Best
o
The faithful helm commands the keel,
From port to port fair breezes blow;
But the ship must sail the convex sea,
Nor may she straighter go.
So, man to man; in fair accord,
On thought and will the winds may wait;
But the world will bend the passing word,
Though its shortest course be straight.
From soul to soul the shortest line
At best will bended be:
The ship that holds the straightest course
Still sails the convex sea.
o
poem by John Boyle O'Reilly
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A Burnt Ship
Out of a fired ship, which by no way
But drowning could be rescued from the flame,
Some men leap'd forth, and ever as they came
Near the foes' ships, did by their shot decay;
So all were lost, which in the ship were found,
They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drown'd.
poem by John Donne
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Giddy-up
My ship left port without me
and my run has all run out
If my pep were not all petered
I would surely scream and shout
My giddy-up has up-and-gone
with no energy in sight
As inertia's taken over
and momentum's taken flight
Out of gas with spark plugs fouled
I know I'm going nowhere
My engine's stuck in neutral
with my gears all stripped from wear
With gauge on low and not much go
perhaps I'd best not fight it
Instead of run or even walk
it may well be wise to sit
With endurance pushed up to the edge
I need not put it to the test
I could opt for healthy time-out
that would give my self a rest
I believe I'll choose that option
and see where it will lead
And when my ship returns to port
I'll load the energy I need
poem by Mark Bratlie
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The Worst Enemy...
you were behind me and
i looked back at you
you evaded me like we were
two ships in an inevitable
collision.
I am not afraid.
Got no lighthouse or
Port to land this small ship.
You have a continent
Scattered islands
You own lighthouses
Fierce lights and
Friend of the storms.
I am never afraid of you.
I have nothing to lose.
You walk ahead of me
And i hear your laughter.
You are the tower
Her God, and she is my wife.
I am still not afraid at you
I can look at you direct to the eye.
Soon you will die.
That is His promise.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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The Bonny Port of Sydney
The lovely Port of Sydney
Lies laughing to the sky,
The bonny Port of Sydney,
Where the ships of nations lie.
You shall never see such beauty,
Though you sail the wide world o’er,
As the sunny Port of Sydney,
As we see it from the Shore.
The shades of night are falling
On many ports of call,
But the harbour lights of Sydney
Are the grandest of them all;
Such a city set in jewels
Has ne’er been seen before
As the harbour lights of Sydney
As we see them from the Shore.
I must sail for gloomy London,
Where there are no harbour lights,
Where no sun is seen in winter,
And there are no starry nights;
And the bonny port of Sydney—
I may never see it more,
But I’ll always dream about it
As we view it from North Shore.
poem by Henry Lawson
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Aboard At A Ship's Helm
ABOARD, at a ship's helm,
A young steersman, steering with care.
A bell through fog on a sea-coast dolefully ringing,
An ocean-bell--O a warning bell, rock'd by the waves.
O you give good notice indeed, you bell by the sea-reefs ringing,
Ringing, ringing, to warn the ship from its wreck-place.
For, as on the alert, O steersman, you mind the bell's admonition,
The bows turn,--the freighted ship, tacking, speeds away under her
gray sails,
The beautiful and noble ship, with all her precious wealth, speeds
away gaily and safe.
But O the ship, the immortal ship! O ship aboard the ship! 10
O ship of the body--ship of the soul--voyaging, voyaging, voyaging.
poem by Walt Whitman
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A Passing Ship
A passing ship
I have found the open ocean
Give me no lip
The waves roll by as I pass on
A snulit sea
On the first day of april
How fresh the wind
Will you miss me when Im gone
How many words
How many songs still unwritten
How many ships
Of the line have come and gone
In the good old days
May they never be forgotten
They had heavy wind
Or they had no wind at all
A passing ship
It is midnight on the ocean
Had a real long trip
I have been at sea all winter
When my ship came in
I was givin up the ghost
I think I should be
Leavin those passing ships alone
When the sea runs high
The sea runs wild and Im unsteady
And I think of you
In the warmth of your home and family
When love is true
There is no truer occupation
And may this gale
Blow us to the ones we love
Another day
Another ocean
Give me no lip
But stand aside as I pass on
A sunlit sea
On the last day of october
How fresh the wind
Will you miss me from now on
I guess I should be
Leavin passing ships alone
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sailing Ships
(coverdale/vandenberg)
Do you remember
Standing on the shore,
Head in the clouds,
Your pockets filled with dreams
Bound for glory
On the seven seas of life,
But, the ocean is deeper than it seems
The wind was with you
When you left on the morning tide,
You set your sail for an island in the sun,
On the horizon, dark clouds up ahead,
For the storm has just begun
Take me with you,
Take me far away,
Lead me to the distant shore
Sail your ship across the water,
Spread your wings across the sky
Take the time to see
Youre the one who holds the key,
Or sailing ships will pass you by
You cry for mercy,
When you think youve lost your way,
You drift alone, if all your hope is gone
So find the strength and you will see
You control, your destiny,
After all is said and done
So take me with you,
Take me far away,
An lead me to the distant shore
Sail your ship across the water,
Spread your wings across the sky
Take the time to see
Youre the one who holds the key,
Or sailing ships will pass,
Sailing ships will pass you,
Sailing ships will pass you by...
Take me with you,
Take me far away,
Well ride the wind across the sky
Spread your wings and you will see
You control, your destiny,
So sailing ships dont pass you by
So take me with you,
Take me far away,
Well ride the wind across the sky
Spread your wings and you will see
You control, your destiny,
So sailing ships dont pass,
So sailing ships dont pass you,
So sailing ships dont pass you by...
Baby, baby, baby, baby,
Youll find that youre the only one
Can sail your ship across the sky
song performed by by Whitesnake
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Salty Dog
'all hands on deck, we've run afloat!' i heard the captain cry
'explore the ship, replace the cook: let no one leave alive!'
Across the straits, around the horn: how far can sailors fly?
A twisted path, our tortured course, and no one left alive
We sailed for parts unknown to man, where ships come home to die
No lofty peak, nor fortress bold, could match our captain's eye
Upon the seventh seasick day we made our port of call
A sand so white, and sea so blue, no mortal place at all
We fired the gun, and burnt the mast, and rowed from ship to shore
The captain cried, we sailors wept: our tears were tears of joy
Now many moons and many junes have passed since we made land
A salty dog, this seaman's log: your witness my own hand
song performed by by Styx
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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