Poems & Sonnets Date : 28-Jun-90 12:12 From : Dale Malone To : Melissa JohnsSubject : Sailing Ships
The blue of the water
Is deep, deep, bluer than blue
Except where the bow
Cuts the softly undulating seas
Creating curtains of snow-white foam
Flowing effervescently into our wake
My hair ruffles with the breeze.
At night, looking downward
I am amazed by the glowing
Phosphorescence of the life
That procreates out here in the deep
Glowing briefly to bid hello
Or to warn us off
From the quietude of their sleep?
In the colors of the Arabian
Nights
The morning sky is tinged with red
Recalls to mind the old salts saying:
“Red skies in the morning
Sailors take warning.
Red skies at night
Sailors delight.”
A sailfish leaps off the bow
Causing my eye to follow
The flight of his path
Off on the horizon I see
Another ship, sailing where we
Have been, passing off our beam
The port where we left our fancy free!
Then I see the schooner
Changing tack and veering
Toward our stately passage
Jolly Roger, high in her sails
Hastily I adjust my leather scabbard
Loosen my sabre in its sheath
Shout the alarm, frenzied activity entails.
My mind goes to the creased and
worn
Letter in my pocket, from my love
Across the bounding main
Melissa is her name
Eyes of hazel and hair like
Shimmering auburn waves of light
Today I fight for her and defend my name.
The timbers shudder beneath my
boots
As we are boarded by hoards of screaming
Riff-raff from the bowels of this ocean
A faint tremor passes through my being
Then, regaining my composure
My blade rings as it strikes
“To the Gods,” my old tar's song, I sing.
One, two, three, I fend off
A fourth tries to skewer
Me from behind, whirling I
Separate his ugly smile from his vest
Screams and cries and frightful
Groans emanate from around me
My love, my sword dances, I am at my best.
With my mates we fight off the
Scum, and bolting to their frigate they
Hoist sail and flee
To aid of shipmates I offer
While in my mind, thoughts of you
And how I loved your letter,
Melissa, please another missive proffer.
Written by Dale E. Malone, Are
you Melissa?
The Great & Wonderful Kahuna wants to know!
Last
modified: April 26, 2009