The Emerald Ship
entertain no
grief over the sinking
of the emerald ship
ships sink
it is not unusual
in this ocean of blue
dark blue
ships normally sink
lots of ships
their numbers
unrecorded
we do not have
to grieve anymore
about the losses
we accept them
as diaries of
the most common
day
when we meet again
i do not say anything
grief is not part of our vocabulary
we can talk about anything
the usual moon and stars and
suns and rivers
those beach umbrellas in
rainbow colors
beer foams, steamy diddums
dim lights
resort huts, starry skies
jokes,
leave law books and
principles
for now
there is only trivial talk
sort of variation
from too much dipping
diving into
whirlpools of
serious doubts
hold on to a glass of beer
take a look at that sexy woman
passing by
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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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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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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The Ships that Won't Go Down
We hear a great commotion
'Bout the ship that comes to grief,
That founders in mid-ocean,
Or is driven on a reef;
Because it's cheap and brittle
A score of sinners drown.
But we hear but mighty little
Of the ships that won't go down.
Here's honour to the builders –
The builders of the past;
Here's honour to the builders
That builded ships to last;
Here's honour to the captain,
And honour to the crew;
Here's double-column headlines
To the ships that battle through.
They make a great sensation
About famous men that fail,
That sink a world of chances
In the city morgue or gaol,
Who drink, or blow their brains out,
Because of "Fortune's frown".
But we hear far too little
Of the men who won't go down.
The world is full of trouble,
And the world is full of wrong,
But the heart of man is noble,
And the heart of man is strong!
They say the sea sings dirges,
But I would say to you
That the wild wave's song's a paean
For the men that battle through.
poem by Henry Lawson
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All That I Know
All we are
Is part
Of everything
It's out of our control
And I'll say
All you need to know
Is anything
That's happening is happening
All the ships in the ocean
Outside my window
Under the moon
All the lights in the harbour
Keep me from sleeping
Keep me from dreaming
Oh no
All that I know
All we are
Is part
Of everything
It's out of our control
And I'll say
All you need to know
Is anything
That's happening is happening
All the ships in the ocean
Outside my window
Under the moon
All the lights in the harbour
Keep me from sleeping
Keep me from dreaming
Keep the light on in the window
For the time that I am gone
And when this all is over
You will never be alone
Keep your head up
So you know
When you wake up
I'll be home
All the ships in the ocean
Outside my window
Under the moon
All the lights in the harbour
Keep me from sleeping
Keep me from dreaming
Oh no
All that I know
It's everything I know
song performed by by Get Up Kids from On A Wire
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Ships
(ian hunter)
We walked to the sea, just my father and me
And the dogs played around on the sand.
Winter cold cut the air, hanging still everywhere
Dressed in gray did he say hold my hand?
I said loves easier when its far away
We sat and watched the distant lights.
Were two ships that pass in the night
And we smile when we say its alright.
Were still here, its just that were out of sight
Like those ships that pass in the night.
Theres a boat on the line where the sea meets the sky.
Theres another that rides far behind.
And it seems you and I are like strangers a wide
Ways apart as we drift on through time.
He said its harder now youre far away
We only read you when you write.
Were two ships that pass in the night
We both smile when we say its alright.
Were still here, oh its just that were out of sight
Like those ships that pass in the night.
Were two ships that pass in the night
Were two ships that pass in the night
Were two ships that pass in the night
(repeat and fade)
song performed by by Ian Hunter
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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Memories in Water
Water ripples across a clear fountain blue,
Pennies the wishes of a new yesteryear,
The waves of the ocean washes its tide,
Taking with it the sands of oysters still,
The ocean deep, the blue as dark yet,
Getting darker, the ships of yesteryear living with regret,
The water only remembering the cutting of the ships,
As they cast over their nets.
Water falls from a sodden sky,
The shape of the tears to gather with the tide,
The deep of the water: silk to the skin,
Shall bury itself deep into the sands of time.
The tides of the ocean with its bare seas cries,
The forgotten memories of another time,
Telling its tale of each fisherman it brought with its tide.
Each teardropp of rain the clouds bring with grey skies,
Shall dampen each sunshine ray,
And with joy bring a rainbow to shine,
The rainbow in joyous colour opening up the sky,
The clouds forgetting each tear it had fallen from the sky,
Opens up its gaps, the sun's rays spreading wide,
The stillness of the water once again reflecting the light.
poem by Paula Glynn
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It Comes - Part 2
(It is suggested that the reader reads Part 1 first)
August 1979
Seven fishing boats set sail
into the evening on the South China Sea.
Before the midnight chimed
all seven boats vanished without trace,
no wreckage, debris or survivors were ever found,
it was if the fishing boats had sailed
into oblivion on a calm moonlit sea.
Countries around the world wondered
when the next tragedy would strike
as their navies and fishing fleets sailed the seas.
The seas at night were becoming
more dangerous than normal
especially south of the equator.
Top scientists and marine biologist
gathered for an urgent meeting in Mexico
to see if they could figure out
what was happening to the ships.
Their only clue was the last words
of the survivor of the Sulu Spray.
They discussed patterns to any of the disappearances,
only one seemed prevalent in that all
the ships disappeared at night.
No strange sightings were reported
in the areas during the days or nights
before or after the disappearances.
As the meeting went on into the night
the Grafton Bay reported a blue light
moving at speed beneath the water to local coast guard
before it too vanished
and like the rest left now wreckage, debris or survivors.
At the meeting, many theories were being forwarded
of a deep-sea creature of unknown origin.
They were scoffed at as being too fantastic to be true.
If they were true why hadn’t there been
any reported any sightings of such a creature.
The creature if it existed had to be
as big as or bigger than any ocean going tanker
to enable it to sink large ships.
Then there was the question of wreckage,
there has been none.
From any ship, there is always debris,
but there has been nothing.
Just as the meeting was about to close
news came in about another ship lost.
A ship two miles away reported seeing
what they described as long waving arms
and a blue light just prior the ships disappearance
from their radar screen.
26 September 2009
To be continued
poem by David Harris
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Ocean Blue
Well you took me home
And you took me back
But deep down inside
The feeling just died and i
Couldnt see why
From indigo to royal blue
I travel far but no one will do
Anytime, anyplace
Every shape every face
Brings memories of you
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue - ocean blue
Fair weather friends might drift away
When summer ends and skies burn grey
So I walk to the ocean
Pilot these shores
Just thinking of you
Its time we kissed the clouds goodbye
From now on its strictly blue sky
Come rain and shine
The outlook is still fine
Im thinking of you
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue - ocean blue
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue, ocean blue
Ocean blue, ocean blue
Ocean blue, ocean blue
Ocean blue, ocean ocean
Ocean, ocean
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue
Blue to be blue
To be blue
Ocean blue - ocean blue
I stand at the head of the queue
Theres mutinys every crew
Wishin and wonderin bout you
Ocean blue
song performed by by Abc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Night Flanger
I wake up in the evening
The sun is still around
The street seems to be busy
I hear the traffic sounds
Last nights been lousy
I had a lot to drink
Too many dry martinis
And cans of beer to sink
Another day, already night
Blue neon light
Blue neon light
I could call my rhianna
Ask her to meet me now
I think I lost her number
Its too late anyhow
I could turn on the tv
Or I could stay in bed
These asians drive me crazy
These asians drive me mad
Another day, already night
Blue neon light
Blue neon light
Night is near
Im still in bed
Red curtain
Soft wind
Sunlight
And I was red
On the papers
On the floor
We did watch possessed
People, push and pull it
Moss turf, and other lads
My heads still full of poison
What I do is insane
I should, perhaps, move out of here
Or take a plane to spain
Refrigerators noise
Ill get out, the only choice
Should I get up right now
Wait for me somehow
Dont wanna know what for
To get out of this door
Should I phone debbie meier?
Is this the one desire?
I look into the mirror
My eyes cant be in error
The suns now really gone
Perhaps I am the one
Nothing can creep in sight
Im turning on the lights
Turning on the lights
Im turning on the lights (5x)
The suns now really gone
Perhaps I am the one
song performed by by Yello
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Night Flanger
I wake up in the evening
The sun is still around
The street seems to be busy
I hear the traffic sounds
Last nights been lousy
I had a lot to drink
Too many dry martinis
And cans of beer to sink
Another day, already night
Blue neon light
Blue neon light
I could call my rhianna
Ask her to meet me now
I think I lost her number
Its too late anyhow
I could turn on the tv
Or I could stay in bed
These asians drive me crazy
These asians drive me mad
Another day, already night
Blue neon light
Blue neon light
Night is near
Im still in bed
Red curtain
Soft wind
Sunlight
And I was red
On the papers
On the floor
We did watch possessed
People, push and pull it
Moss turf, and other lads
My heads still full of poison
What I do is insane
I should, perhaps, move out of here
Or take a plane to spain
Refrigerators noise
Ill get out, the only choice
Should I get up right now
Wait for me somehow
Dont wanna know what for
To get out of this door
Should I phone debbie meier?
Is this the one desire?
I look into the mirror
My eyes cant be in error
The suns now really gone
Perhaps I am the one
Nothing can creep in sight
Im turning on the lights
Turning on the lights
Im turning on the lights (5x)
The suns now really gone
Perhaps I am the one
song performed by by Yello
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 Vision Of Doom...
you look at the world
while riding a taxi
above the bridge that connects
two cities
a canvass of blue sea
white clouds drifting
seagulls crossing the horizon
blue ships floating
tiny houses along the boulevard
cars moving like ants
upon a line of path
you are amazed by so much beauty
man-made though
slowly the compassion arises
from the stares of your eyes
for soon
who knows that this is your last glimpse
of this city
beauty swallowed by waves
as islands sink to the bottom of the
the blue ocean
and the sounds of people like you
finally gone.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Shop Talk
I seen you in your pajamas
Drinking coffee at the house of pies
You was flipping for the check
And talking like your tongue was paralyzed
You were saying something
That I dont understand
Bout looking other places
While youre holding my hand
Lets stop
Lets not
Talk shop
In front of all these guys
Chorus:
Lets not
Talk shop
Shop talk
Shop talk is talking something
That you dont realize
Loose lips sink ships, shake hips
Bad tips draw spies
I want you when I can get you
But you only want me on the rise
Well I thought I had your number
But your numbers too loud
Now youre standing on the table
And were drawing a crowd
Lets stop
Lets not
Talk shop
In front of all these spies
song performed by by John Prine
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Open Road
THE roads of the Sea
Are thronged with merchantmen;
East and West, North and South
They go and come again.
All precious merchandise
They bear in their hold:
Lest the people be starving
In the night and cold.
Now tell me, good merchants,
How this thing can be
That the white ships are thronging
The roads of the sea?
For there's death in the skies
And there's death on the earth;
And men talked of famine
And a frozen hearth.
Yet the ships they go crowding
The roads of the sea;
They bring home their treasures
To you and to me.
O listen, good people,
And hearing, praise God,
That the watch-dogs are keeping
The ships on their road!
They sit watchful and steady
Where the North winds blow;
Sleepless they are keeping
The roads the ships go.
In the day, in the hour,
They will spring--until then,
Their eyes keep the courses
Of the merchantmen.
Forget not, good people,
When ye heap the white board,
When ye draw to the hearth-fire,
To praise the Lord,
That the watch-dogs unsleeping
Keep the roads of the Sea,
Up by the Northern Lights
Where the great ships be.
poem by Katharine Tynan
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The Ghosts of the Sea
The ghosts of the sunken ships remember the fog,
Reminiscent of the danger of a wild, mad dog.
Hidden it the darkness it came into the night,
everyone aboard the sailing ship became affright.
They lost their way in that thick cloud as they fell the rhythm of the waves,
They could hear the water as it crashed against the shore and the caves.
Before the sailor knew it they were in the sea among the rolling, foaming crests,
The deep sea was calling them as the waves broke across their breasts.
The high seas had taken another ship as it lay battered among the rocks, moving
slowly with tide,
Softly they could hear the whispering of the fog as it spoke to the ocean wide.
The ghosts of the sea beckon as the ocean becomes a sheet of glass,
The fog has lifted and the ghosts for the deep invite the ships who would dare pass.
poem by Ron Dawson
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Mood Indigo
Mood Indigo
Quite evening in the village, dogs bark now and then, they don’t bother
me anymore. The cruel heat has gone I have watered the flowers and
the bushes, which are slowly losing their bloom, autumn is here and it
is time for slumber. So many years spent on iron ships only seeing
the endless sea, yet there is a part of me who long for the oceans, but
not for the ships I sailed. Many a moon lit night I have leaned on
a railing listening to the sigh of the seas guessing what message it had
for me. My years as a seafarer was not wasted I have read hundreds of
books, learned about other cultures and respect for the rage of nature.
Twenty years in Paradise I shall not complain and ask for more, but it is
time for me to leave, age demands it, and that’s ok, I shall not travel
far only to the nearest town, I can visit my landscape when I need to.
poem by Oskar Hansen
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The Glory of Ships
The glory of ships is an old, old song,
since the days when the sea-rovers ran
In their open boats through the roaring surf,
and the spread of the world began;
The glory of ships is a light on the sea,
and a star in the story of man.
When Homer sang of the galleys of Greece
that conquered the Trojan shore,
And Solomon lauded the barks of Tyre that
brought great wealth to his door,
'Twas little they knew, those ancient men,
what would come of the sail and the oar.
The Greek ships rescued the West from the East,
when they harried the Persians home;
And the Roman ships were the wings of strength
that bore up the empire, Rome;
And the ships of Spain found a wide new world,
far over the fields of foam.
Then the tribes of courage at last saw clear
that the ocean was not a bound,
But a broad highway, and a challenge to seek
for treasure as yet unfound;
So the fearless ships fared forth to the search,
in joy that the globe was round.
Their hulls were heightened, their sails spread out,
they grew with the growth of their quest;
They opened the secret doors of the East,
and the golden gates of the West;
And many a city of high renown
was proud of a ship on its crest.
The fleets of England and Holland and France
were at strife with each other and Spain;
And battle and storm sent a myriad ships
to sleep in the depths of the main;
But the seafaring spirit could never be drowned,
and it filled up the fleets again.
They greatened and grew, with the aid of steam,
to a wonderful, vast array,
That carries the thoughts and the traffic of men
into every harbor and bay;
And now in the world-wide work of the ships
'tis England that leads the way.
O well for the leading that follows the law
of a common right on the sea!
But ill for the leader who tries to hold
what belongs to mankind in fee!
The way of the ships is an open way,
and the ocean must ever be free!
Remember, O first of the maritime folk,
how the rise of your greatness began.
It will live if you safeguard the round-the-world road
from the shame of a selfish ban;
For the glory of ships is a light on the sea,
and a star in the story of man!
poem by Henry Van Dyke
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Ships that Pass in the Night
Out in the sky the great dark clouds are massing;
I look far out into the pregnant night,
Where I can hear the solemn booming gun
And catch the gleaming of a random light,
That tells me that the ship I seek
is passing, passing.
My tearful eyes my soul's deep hurt are glassing;
For I would hail and check that ship of ships.
I stretch my hands imploring, cry aloud,
My voice falls dead a foot from mine own lips,
And but its ghost doth reach that vessel, passing, passing.
O Earth, O Sky, O Ocean, both surpassing,
O heart of mine, O soul that dreads the dark!
Is there no hope for me? Is there no way
That I may sight and check that speeding bark
Which out of sight and sound is passing, passing?
poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar
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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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