holding true to course
stormy winds buffet and blow
rudder is broken
The prompt today at Poet’s United Poet’s Motif is Sustainability.
Tag: sailing
Sink or SWIM #poetry
I wondered then
was I thrown into the pool at two
like I threw my dog in
to assure she wouldn’t drown
eyes bug out at me pleading for a rescue
and I knowing my parentage know
a bugged out plea
would have done little
“but she can swim”
*
so you see
it was really like that
sinking or swimming
is it a wonder then
when you sit on the thinker’s mat
your fingers weaving illogical actions
that you dive off a cliff
and the implications are
deeper than the sea
*
WHY NOT?
launch your boat
for the first time in a storm
after all what better way to
test if she is hail, will float
waves will crest
but then so do trials
before you tame them
in bath water mildly hot
*
It’s more fun to
get on the back of a hog
knowing little about the driver
except he is a reckless sort
you’ll ride to hell and beyond
after all isn’t that
what his jacket
says you’ll do?
*
and
at the end of the day
when you retrieve another cracked board
because someone had shouted “Surf’s Up”
you shake hands with the last rays
of the day
glad that your first lesson was
breathing under water
“it’s better to walk alone than with a crowd going in the wrong direction”
Diane Grant
Another great prompt from Susan at Poet’s United Midweek Motif – Swimming
Cover Art #dpchallenge #photography
Can you imagine the cover art to your next book?
I have- I even have the back picked out.
The front is the smiling faces of Liberian children and the back is a the back of a sand filled canoe paddling away (also Liberian).
What makes a good cover? I think if your cover can draw the reader or listener in then it’s done its job.
My Three books would be entitled:
1-Catching the Wind
(Poetry inspired by the High Sea)
2- Died Red
( horror mystery you choose)
3 – Tying the Knot – for lasting relationships
(self-help or murder mystery )
The WordPress Daily Challenge this week is Cover Art. imagine which of your images you would like to see gracing the cover of a book, an album, or a magazine.
This was way too much fun!
And here are some creative covers. Who knows you might find a cover designer for your next book!
At Home on the Sea #sailing #devotion #poetry
You sit silently
water teases
bumping against
your hull
a few more moments
rest
preparing for a dance with the waves
and then like the rooster that crows at dawn,
the captain shouts the order:
“unleash the mainsail,
ready the ropes from mooring
raise our standard,
let the sun have her glorious moment”
colors dance and flutter as the breeze grasps sepia sails
the sun smiles, ” yes, the perfect day to set out”
I remember too well
days when the sun-kissed my face
and the breeze snapped at my hair
like a bubble the topsails float free
sailors amble down the ropes
upturned faces meet the day in an “ahhh”
more billowing white than brown
as the captain tugs at the wheel
“yes, my lady, it is time to fly”
he grasps the smooth wood like a lover
he feels her tug back, “I am ready,” she whispers
free from her mooring, she lets the wind pull her about
sailor’s legs are eager to feel the motion of the sea
white meets blue in a halo of reflections
tears pool as my heart wants to grasp at freedom
a tug of war with spirit and earth
as the sails reach to the sea
she glides toward open water
I am glad for the reminder
one day I too will leave the mooring of life
releasing billowing sails to the winds beyond
gliding freely with the captain of my ship to open waters
“Tis the set of the sail that decides the goal, and not the storms of life.”
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.
O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.
Psalms 104: 1-4
Onward and Upward #poetry #photography #dpchallenge
Climbing the walls
running against the dawn
raising sail toward the seas
up the long staircase
run the race toward the light
Today’s Daily Post Prompt Endurance
Sails and Storms #poetry #photography
Turbulent we ride it out
on high churned up seas
tie down the sails
in slickers freeze
the day had been
balmy and blue
grey skies forever
waves choppy too
you take the good
I’ll take the bad
the stormy days
are close at hand
as you let loose your sails
remember this day
we long for the ocean
with which to play
Poet’s United Midweek Motif is: Stormy Weather
In the Fray #dpchallenge #photography #poetry
On the edges of battle
mouth of cannon burns exhausted
reliant on my mooring
fore and aft held taut
If afraid when things splinter
they become stubble and stone
Today’s DP Photography Challenge is Fray .
Captive #photography #poetry #dpchallenge
No longer am I free
captured in your frame
whether sailing in the sun
dancing in a box
peeking through the trees
what do you call this game?
Today’s Daily Post Photo Challenge is Silhouette.
Degas’ sculpture Petite Danceuse de quatorze ans is a beautiful life-like bronze statue.
What of Life? #questions #poetry #photography
To know everything implies that I know something
“what” I ask of myself “do I know”?
When the sails of life luff I may not be going anywhere
When the umpire emphatically cries “You’re out!” – I am
When the doctor tells me I have cancer I have no questions
What about those times in which I know nothing?
When the first thunder booms can I get under cover in time?
When a patient squeezes my hand for the last time is there more I could have done?
When my child makes a bad decision can I change it?
But there are those moments…
when feathery leaves dance with the dawn, I can’t contain the wonder
when a young dolphin squeals as if it is laughing, I must laugh
when I’m held lovingly through life’s storms, I am comforted
“no” I answer myself “I do not know anything”
with each day I cherish life and people a bit more…
At Poet’s United, Verse First Kim Nelson has prompted the poet today. In Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg says, “In writing you can know everything.” So today, be omniscient. Be a know-it-all, an expert; be the last word. Write a poem with a voice of authority.
Here is my last word then – I have to agree with those who have gone before me “The older I get the less I know.”
Photograph: “The Last “Ha” © L. Moon 2013
Yawl #atozchallenge #poetry #life’slessons #sailing #napomo
As we glide on the sea of life, we rarely see the squall up ahead. Squalls are a greater test for the sailor of life than the sunny weekend sailor’s dreams…
She was ours this sturdy craft
maiden voyage stem to stern packed
we set off on a lark that day
knowing not that bad weather was in the way
we pitched we rolled
our new craft took a toll
we trimmed we sailed
and emptied quite a few pail
an ugly grey squall no less
it was sent our way to give the test
when sun’s weak rays came at last
we knew one of many we had passed
for others would we be ready
in our life there would be plenty
storms to test our merit
lessons for love we would bear it
***
There are many challenges in life. If we cannot weather those storms our life is not hardy and hail. This is my offering to the A to Z challenge. A lesson of life packed into this “Y” – my little “craft” bobs and pitches on a regular basis but we are still “afloat.”
The beautiful seascape is by artist Konstantinovich
penned in moon dust 