Two Hundred Years After Cook
Would Cook, I wonder, ever have dreamt
Of seventeen eighty-eight,
Of convict ships and dismal cargoes
Rushing onward to their fate?
As he sailed the eastern waters
Did he see the prison yards,
Were the gallows, gaunt and tall
Surrounded by the spectral guards?
Did he hear the groans and cries,
The cat ‘o nine, its evil hiss…
Could he possibly have known
Discovery would come to this?
April 1970
poem by David Lewis Paget
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Wooden Ships
Their sails fluttered in the prevailing winds
as the wooden ships sailed into the horizons
looking for new lands to conquer.
Across oceans with waters unknown
in days when some thought
the world was flat
and if you sailed so far out
you just simply fell off.
The sailors were superstitious
seeing monsters in most living things.
A giant squid became a Kraken
and a myth of ocean lore.
However, these sailors were brave men
and against dangers unknown sailed
to chart new lands
many thought did not exist.
Some went for riches;
others went on a voyage of discovery.
Some came back to tell tall tales.
While other went down in their wooden ships
as in perilous waters sailed,
and slowly the world was discovered
by these sailors in wooden ships.
11 July 2008
poem by David Harris
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Year Of Meteors, 1859 '60
YEAR of meteors! brooding year!
I would bind in words retrospective, some of your deeds and signs;
I would sing your contest for the 19th Presidentiad;
I would sing how an old man, tall, with white hair, mounted the
scaffold in Virginia;
(I was at hand--silent I stood, with teeth shut close--I watch'd;
I stood very near you, old man, when cool and indifferent, but
trembling with age and your unheal'd wounds, you mounted the
scaffold;)
--I would sing in my copious song your census returns of The States,
The tables of population and products--I would sing of your ships and
their cargoes,
The proud black ships of Manhattan, arriving, some fill'd with
immigrants, some from the isthmus with cargoes of gold;
Songs thereof would I sing--to all that hitherward comes would I
welcome give; 10
And you would I sing, fair stripling! welcome to you from me, sweet
boy of England!
Remember you surging Manhattan's crowds, as you pass'd with your
cortege of nobles?
There in the crowds stood I, and singled you out with attachment;
I know not why, but I loved you... (and so go forth little song,
Far over sea speed like an arrow, carrying my love all folded,
And find in his palace the youth I love, and drop these lines at his
feet;)
--Nor forget I to sing of the wonder, the ship as she swam up my bay,
Well-shaped and stately the Great Eastern swam up my bay, she was 600
feet long,
Her, moving swiftly, surrounded by myriads of small craft, I forget
not to sing;
--Nor the comet that came unannounced out of the north, flaring in
heaven; 20
Nor the strange huge meteor procession, dazzling and clear, shooting
over our heads,
(A moment, a moment long, it sail'd its balls of unearthly light over
our heads,
Then departed, dropt in the night, and was gone;)
--Of such, and fitful as they, I sing--with gleams from them would I
gleam and patch these chants;
Your chants, O year all mottled with evil and good! year of
forebodings! year of the youth I love!
Year of comets and meteors transient and strange!--lo! even here, one
equally transient and strange!
As I flit through you hastily, soon to fall and be gone, what is this
book,
What am I myself but one of your meteors?
poem by Walt Whitman
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Stone Walls
Written by - Jim Croce
It's been too many years inside this prison
Too many years just for one little fight
He got what was comin'
And I think I served enough time
I'm goin' home tonight
That stone looks mighty cold
And the guard that walks that wall
Is just waitin' to get a convict in his sights
But if I can clear the top
You can bet I'll never stop
Cause I'm goin' home tonight
Chorus:
Because stone walls do a prison
Make iron bars a cage
Any man who says they don't
Never been inside
Cause in time the bars get closer
And at night the walls grow tighter
Do you feel like there's a shackle around your mind?
Now those guards are on my tail
I can hear those sirens wail
But I know that I'll get away and that I'll be alright
Cause I'd rather live on the run
Stand free in the morning sun
Then to spend another lonely prison night
Chorus
song performed by by Jim Croce
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Seventeen
Late last night
I get a call from a so-called friend
He wouldnt give his name
Says he saw you with another man
Feels like seventeen years
Its only seventeen days
Since I saw the real you
And I let you walk away
You left me broken
You left me stranded
The way you play this game of love
Its just plain underhanded
I spent a lot of time
And I spent all my money
Dont want no other fool
To put his hands on you
Who you been talkin to?
Yeah who you been walkin with?
Seventeen, youre just seventeen
Seventeen
They said I was playin with fire
I knew I had to take a chance
I had to take you higher
To a new experience
But little did I know
Id never get that far
Girl, you know you put on quite a show
Youre gonna be a star
When you grow older, girl
Youll remember I told you, girl
Seventeen, youre just seventeen
Seventeen, seventeen
Seventeen, youre just seventeen
Seventeen, seventeen
Seventeen, youre only seventeen
Seventeen, seventeen
song performed by by Foreigner
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Guards! Seize Him!
Guards cease to wander where the hounds stay,
Yonder is peace for the entering marvels that may.
Guards cause innocence to object on evil,
Then seize that man or woman or child who is able!
Inside the door, inside the prison and cells,
Lies a more hopeful gate of magic and bells.
Beyond the common goal is another objective
That worries murder spraying blood - addictive.
Please lay off guards, for the murder to be done,
Munching morsels shunning us, and now abandon!
poem by Naveed Akram
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I Am Surrounded
Safety in numbers?
I see this world in a different light
Safety in solitude-
In my home,
Out on the streets or
On the path I walk everyday –
Anticipation can be
As threatening as can be
A brushfire in the heavens where
There are no clouds to hide it and worse yet
No rain to quench its perilous flames-
Realization is none but a nightmare-
People walking behind me,
Ahead of me-
Eyes are upon me-
In a dangerous manner
My inner strength is flagging and
My spirit, my soul, and the very heart of me is afire-
Trees growing tall,
Their branches budding and
Grasses growing while bird chant their
Morning arias- spring is upon us,
I foresee no destiny, no rainbows-
No safe haven and I wonder-
Am I blazing pathway towards the underworld-
Is there mercy for my thoughts misconstrued as they are
Fighting a battle in the midst of terror
Searing my very essence?
A hundred yards behind and
A hundred yards before-
May as well be millimeters as I believe
I am surrounded?
I am surrounded –
By evil intruders who wish to harm me and
By children of hellions –
Upon this pathway I walk
There is nowhere to turn to escape
These enemies of my heart, mind and spirit-
Trees growing tall,
Their branches budding and
Grasses growing while birds chant their morning arias-
Spring is upon us-
I foresee no destiny and as I look towards the horizon and
See the sunrise-
I look towards the right of me,
I glance to lest of me and
Fearfully, behind-
Spring is upon us-
The most picturesquely bountiful time of the year-
In this world I see all humanity
Conniving, evil and threatening-
It has been as an eternity since I have seen a rainbow or
Since I have heard my own laughter enlightening
The path upon which I walk in my life-
I am not safe here- or
At home, all is bleak and ominous-
I am terrified because my sun has disappeared behind the
Mountains in my dark world and
I am surrounded,
I am-
poem by Claudia Krizay
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Home Thoughts from Abroad
April in England–daffodils are growing
By every wayside, golden, tall and fair;
April–and all the little winds are blowing
The scents of springtime through the sunny air.
April in England–God, that we were there!
April in England–and her sons are lying
On these red fields, and dreaming of her shore;
April–we hear the thrushes' songs replying
Each unto each, above the cannons' roar;
April in England–shall we see it more?
April in England–there's the cuckoo calling
Down in her meadows where the cowslip gleams;
April–and little showers are softly falling,
Dimpling the surface of her babbling streams;
April in England–how the shrapnel screams!
April in England–blood and dust and smother,
Screaming of horses, men in agony.
April–full many of thy sons, O Mother,
Never again those dewy dawns shall see.
April in England–God, keep England free!
poem by Norah M. Holland
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Cooked
What's the use?
Give it best;
Cut her loose;
Have a rest.
Hope is dead;
Gloom collects,
Nuff is said
Cook objects.
Moth and rust
Hither lurk;
All is bust,
Knock off work.
Nation's great
Architects,
Clean the slate;
Cook objects.
Oh the schemes
That we planned!
Dreaming dreams
For the land.
All in vain.
Hope neglects
To remain;
Cook objects.
Navy; what?
Army too?
Blessed rot;
All is blue.
It's all one
Who protects.
dropp your gun;
Cook objects.
Let her rip,
All is up.
Have to sip
Bitter cup.
Tear your hair
Woe connects
With despair,
Cook objects.
Fellow Aust
Ralians,
Trouble's crossed
All our plans.
Seek the tomb;
Fate selects
Us for doom.
Cook objects.
Death marks us
For his own.
(Grisly cuss.)
Our head-tone,
With a laugh,
He erects.
Epitaph
'Cook objects.'
dropp a tear;
Heave a sigh;
End is near;
Say goodbye.
Sell up home
And effects.
(Dismal pome)
Cook objects.
poem by Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis
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The Destroying Spirit
I sit upon the rocks that frown
Above the rapid Nile;
And on the toil of man look down
With bitter and scornful smile.
My rocks are inaccessible,
And few return their terrors to tell.
My subjects are the birds, whose wings
Never soar'd into other air;
To whose shrill cries each echo rings—
For their nests are hidden there:
They dip their plumes in that mighty river,
Whose course is onward—onward, for ever.
I see the deluge come sweeping on
Where waving corn-fields gleam;
And forests, and cities, and herds are gone,
Like the shadows of a dream:
The rushing tide is an ocean now;
And islands of ruin darken its brow.
But the waters sink, and earth again
Smiles under Nature's gentlest reign:
Where, from scenes of bliss, shall I go?
I—whose existence is terror and woe.
Now I hide in the burning breast
Of some mountain, whose fires are never at rest,
And urge the torrents that downward flow,
Crashing and swallowing all below.
Then, through the air—away!—away!
Till I check my course on the dread Himmaleh:
Down to its deepest valleys I dive,
Which no mortal can ever see and live,
To visit the evil spirits who dwell
In the ceaseless gloom of that murky dell.
With them, from their rocky temples I roam,
To lure the traveller from his home:
When he rests beneath some charmed tree
With dreams we vex his mind;
And he wakes our hideous forms to see,
As we hover upon the wind;
And our voices howl in the hurrying blast,
Till in frantic fear he breathes his last:
Then we bear him to our dismal cave,
And his tortured spirit we claim as our slave!
I dwell where tempests are loud and dread—
I ride on the billow's foam;
And wherever terror is widest spread
There is the Spirit's home.
poem by Louisa Stuart Costello
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Born In A Prison
Were born in a prison, raised in a prison,
Sent to a prison called school.
We cry in a prison, we love in a prison,
We dream in a prison like fools.
Wood becomes a flute when its loved,
Reach for yourself and your battered mates.
Mirror becomes a razor when its broken,
Look in the mirror and see your shattered fate.
We live with no reason, kicked round for no reason,
Thrown out without reason like tools.
We work in a prison and hate in a prison,
And die in a prison as a rule.
Wood becomes a flute when its loved,
Reach for yourself and your battered mates.
Mirror becomes a razor when its broken,
Look in the mirror and see your shattered fate.
We live in a prison mong judges and wardens
And wait for no reason for you.
We laugh in a prison, go through all four seasons,
And die with no vision of truth.
Wood becomes a flute when its loved,
Reach for yourself and your battered mates.
Mirror becomes a razor when its broken,
Look in the mirror and see your shattered fate.
Born in a prison!
(born in a prison!)
(born in a prison!)
(born in a prison!)
Born in a prison!
(born in a prison!)
(born in a prison!)
Born in a prison!
Born in a prison!
Born in a prison!
(born in a prison!)
(born in a prison!)
Born in a prison!
song performed by by Yoko Ono
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Born In A Prison
Were born in a prison, raised in a prison,
Sent to a prison called school.
We cry in a prison, we love in a prison,
We dream in a prison like fools.
Wood becomes a flute when its loved,
Reach for yourself and your battered mates.
Mirror becomes a razor when its broken,
Look in the mirror and see your shattered fate.
We live with no reason, kicked round for no reason,
Thrown out without reason like tools.
We work in a prison and hate in a prison,
And die in a prison as a rule.
Wood becomes a flute when its loved,
Reach for yourself and your battered mates.
Mirror becomes a razor when its broken,
Look in the mirror and see your shattered fate.
We live in a prison mong judges and wardens
And wait for no reason for you.
We laugh in a prison, go through all four seasons,
And die with no vision of truth.
Wood becomes a flute when its loved,
Reach for yourself and your battered mates.
Mirror becomes a razor when its broken,
Look in the mirror and see your shattered fate.
Born in a prison!
(born in a prison!)
(born in a prison!)
(born in a prison!)
Born in a prison!
(born in a prison!)
(born in a prison!)
Born in a prison!
Born in a prison!
Born in a prison!
(born in a prison!)
(born in a prison!)
Born in a prison!
song performed by by Yoko Ono
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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North Atlantic Sea
The North Atlantic Sea raged bitter cold
as a convoy of ships sailed swiftly as could be.
A wolf pack of submarines
were waiting somewhere
beneath the cold waters there.
Everyone scanned the icy waters
for some tell tale sign
as the merchant navy steamed on.
A destroyer was their bodyguard
in case trouble flared.
The sky’s clouds were grey
and filled with snow and followed them
into the eastern horizon.
Suddenly an enormous explosion
lit up the sky.
A U-boat had hit a target
and many brave men
were heading for a watery grave.
The destroyer raced towards the stricken ship
as another explosion rocked the sea.
The U-boats were finding their targets.
The destroyer disengaged
and started a depth charge run.
The merchant ships could only steam ahead
as fast as they could
through the icy water
of the North Atlantic Sea.
The destroyer circled again and again,
until finally the bow of a U-boat
surfaced off the port side.
Sailors jumped into the waters
hoping to save their lives.
The destroyer’s Captain ordered
lifeboats to be lowered
to save as many as he could.
Two dozen lives were saved that day
in a bleak November.
The destroyer then went back
to help the merchant men.
Several of the merchant fleet
had slowed and picked up survivors there.
However, many were lost
to the North Atlantic Sea
on this day in the life
of one convoy during the war,
and the brave men
who faced terrible conditions there
on a cruel sea.
12 February 2008
poem by David Harris
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I Hear My Own Poems Rushing In Me
I HEAR MY OWN POEM RUSHING IN ME
I hear my own poem rushing in me
Despite my sadness and my despair
It tells me I am still alive-
I hear it rushing in me now
As these lines wonder too,
What will be next?
And if I will end it right?
And whether or not it is a true poem?
A rushing in me now-
Like words written and forgotten
So many times
Not so long ago-
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Tales Of A Wayside Inn : Part 1. The Musician's Tale; The Saga of King Olaf XVIII. -- King Olaf And Earl Sigvald
On the gray sea-sands
King Olaf stands,
Northward and seaward
He points with his hands.
With eddy and whirl
The sea-tides curl,
Washing the sandals
Of Sigvald the Earl.
The mariners shout,
The ships swing about,
The yards are all hoisted,
The sails flutter out.
The war-horns are played,
The anchors are weighed,
Like moths in the distance
The sails flit and fade.
The sea is like lead
The harbor lies dead,
As a corse on the sea-shore,
Whose spirit has fled!
On that fatal day,
The histories say,
Seventy vessels
Sailed out of the bay.
But soon scattered wide
O'er the billows they ride,
While Sigvald and Olaf
Sail side by side.
Cried the Earl: 'Follow me!
I your pilot will be,
For I know all the channels
Where flows the deep sea!'
So into the strait
Where his foes lie in wait,
Gallant King Olaf
Sails to his fate!
Then the sea-fog veils
The ships and their sails;
Queen Sigrid the Haughty,
Thy vengeance prevails!
poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Qua Cursum Ventus
AS ships, becalmed at eve, that lay
With canvas drooping, side by side,
Two towers of sail at dawn of day
Are scarce long leagues apart descried;
When fell the night, upsprung the breeze, 5
And all the darkling hours they plied,
Nor dreamt but each the self-same seas
By each was cleaving, side by side:
E’en so—but why the tale reveal
Of those, whom year by year unchanged,
Brief absence joined anew to feel,
Astounded, soul from soul estranged?
At dead of night their sails were filled,
And onward each rejoicing steered—
Ah, neither blame, for neither willed,
Or wist, what first with dawn appeared!
To veer, how vain! On, onward strain,
Brave barks! In light, in darkness too,
Through winds and tides one compass guides:
To that, and your own selves, be true.
But O blithe breeze; and O great seas,
Though ne’er, that earliest parting past,
On your wide plain they join again,
Together lead them home at last.
One port, methought, alike they sought,
One purpose hold where’er they fare,—
O bounding breeze, O rushing seas!
At last, at last, unite them there!
poem by Arthur Hugh Clough
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Evil is YOU!
Everyone says,
I’m evil because I beat my sister,
I’m evil because I took drugs,
I’m evil because I went to prison,
I’m evil because I cheated,
Well Guess what!
You’re not evil,
So chill,
You’re the core of evil,
You represent every part of evil,
And…..,
So is your dark side,
Your devil!
poem by Rana Malas
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Big Ships Sail Out To Sea
Big ships sail out to sea
But they can't hold my heart
Or harbor my soul
Since you traveled away…
The sky is as black as ink
But it can't hurt or feel
As much as I feel for you
Now you've sailed away…
Oh I'm bleeding in waves
And nothing can stem
Or staunch this pain
I'm feeling over and over again…
Babe I'm taking this breath
But I don't want to breathe
I just want to drown
In your arms again…
Oh big ships are sailing
Sailing away with you
And the world is a conch shell
And all I hear is you…
When you was willing to give
All I hear is a moment with you
Let the mermen wail
This is all I can say or feel
Oh I can't pretend I'm not
Drowning without you…
poem by Mark Heathcote
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The Birmingham Six
They came out of prison
To face the real world
Those long-suffering men,
Seventeen years they had served.
Seventeen years for a bomb crime
They did not commit...how can we
Be so wrong, when on the Jury
we sit.
I quote words from
Gilbert and Sullivan's
Trial by Jury:
'Now, jurymen, hear my advice.
All kinds of vulgar prejudice
I pray you set aside.
With stern judicial frame of mind
From bias free of every kind
This Trial must be tried'.
poem by Joyce Hemsley
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Tall Tall Trees
If you want to drive a big limousine
Ill buy the longest one youve ever seen
Ill buy you tall, tall trees
On all the waters and the seas
Im a fool, fool, fool for you
If you want to own a great big mansion
Well Ill give it my utmost attention
Ill buy you tall, tall trees
On all the waters and the seas
Im a fool, fool, fool for you
Well Im a fool, a fool for you
(it may take awhile, but Ill prove its true
Well if its lovin you want, then Ive got it
If its money you want, then Ill get it
Ill buy you tall, tall trees
On all the waters and the seas
Im a fool, fool, fool for you
(yahoo)
Instrumental break
If you want to take a trip across the ocean
Ill travel anywhere you take a notion
Ill buy you tall, tall trees
On all the waters and the seas
Im a fool, fool, fool for you
If you want to own a great big mansion
Well Ill give it my utmost attention
Ill buy you tall, tall trees
On all the waters and the seas
Im a fool, fool, fool for you
Well Im a fool, a fool for you
(it may take awhile, but Ill prove its true
Well if its lovin you want, then Ive got it
If its money you want, then Ill get it
Ill buy you tall, tall trees
On all the waters and the seas
Im a fool, fool, fool for you
Yeah, Im a fool, fool, fool for you
song performed by by Alan Jackson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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To Reach a Far Off Shore
I sailed upon the sea of life
In the year Nineteen Hundred and Thirty Four
Bound for places far from home,
And steered a course yet unknown
To reach a far off shore.
My ship was cast on the sea of life
To seek the dreams that all look for.
I sailed a sea of rocking waves and crushing tides,
A sea of calm so vast and wide
To reach that far off shore.
The sea of life has brought me joy,
And sorrows have I felt with pain
Sailed in shadows of the sky,
And the sea of life and I
Have weathered wind and rain.
With crimson skies to the west
I feel the the spray and ocean spill
Guilded by the evening star
Toward a place where all dreams are,
It leads me on my journey still.
By
Richard Netherland Cook
poem by Richard Netherland Cook
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