"WATER WATER, EVERYWHERE -

BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK!"

Rain - Water - Puddle - Pond - Lake - Stream - Creek - River - Ocean - Seven Seas ...

Can I Float my Boat?

SHIPS AHOY!

© - Tom Hyland - 07-21-09


In this Thing that Some Call -
“The Ship of Life”
We are All but - Voyagers.

Others - like Robin Goodfellow -
May call it a - “Ship of Fools”
But - what does Puck Know?

All Bobbing, and Pitching -
To and Fro - like Corks -
Amidst a Vast Sea of Emotions.

“My Country ‘Tis of Thee” - Whilst - Yours Sucks!
“Motherhood and Apple Pie - and Chevrolet” -
And Mama Leone’s Pizza!

Language Barriers are like Reefs -
Misunderstandings Dashing us Upon the Rocks -
As well as Different Cultures and Beliefs.

Dissimilar Reactions to Controversial Issues -
Strange Customs, Manners, and Morals -
Goals, Aspirations, Dreams - Similar - Yet - Different.

Like Noah’s Ark - We Came - Two-by-Two’s -
Males and Mates - All of God’s Creations -
Yet - Here we Are - ‘Singing the Blues”!

“What Price - PEACE?”
“What Price GLORY?”
Who Does Write - “Man’s Sad Story?”

Mating - Procreation - Copulation -
Increasing Numbers of Over-Population -
And ALL WANT - More, More, MORE!

Avarice, Greed, Greener Pastures -
Select Elites - “Wannabe” Masters -
What has Become of - Humor, Honor, and Harmony?

Gold, Silver, Platinum - OIL!
Nature’s Resources - Temperaments Boil!
And Swordsmen Parry - and Foist their Foil!

Skirmishes - Battles - “Actions” - WARS!
“I WANT WHAT YOU HAVE!”
Said the Crusaders, to the Moors!

“Is This the Face that Launched a Thousand Ships?”
“And Toppled the Topless Towers of Ilium?”
and - Homer Turns Over in his Grave!

“Two Ships - Passing in the Night”
But - the Dense Fog precludes Them - from Seeing Each Other -
“Reflections in a Mirror” Perhaps?

Eerie Silence - Beset by Blaring Foghorns -
Repeatedly Saying:
“Look Out! I’m Here! I’m Here!”

Why do we All Want - “What The Joneses Have?”
Is there No Solace - in “A Land of Plenty?”
Why can’t we All - “Just Get Along?”

There Can Be But One - Captain -
On Any “Ship of State”
But, Power Struggles Perambulate!

“I Want to Be King of The Hill”
Is the Egotist’s Eager Exclamation!
“But - So Do I - to Your - Defamation!”

Why do They Scramble So?
The Boss? The Captain? El Presidente?
If you - Command the Oars - You - Do Not Row!

Just What Keeps This Leaky Ole Boat Afloat?
The Oarsmen - YOU AND ME - “The Workers”
Struggling Furiously - Simply to Live - Not Gloat!

A “Roof Over Our Heads”
Some “Meat on the Table”
And a Gal with Gams - like Betty Grable!

“A Chair, a Dog, a Blazing Log - To Welcome Thee”
‘Twas a Simple Request Once - In The Land of -
“The Home of The Brave and The Free!”

BUT NOW - OH-MY-GOSH!
High Tech has us Ever Wanting More -
Much More than a Mere NOSH!

Not One, but Two Cars in Every Garage -
And “SOCCER MOM’S” SUV -
And Every Home - an HD TV!

Cell-Phones - n’ iPods - n’ even Blackberries -
Puters, n’ Laptops - n’ BOZE Sterries -
No Time to Clean Off - Our Own - Dingle-Berries!

Rush - Rush - RUSH!
Like Eskimo Sled-Dogs -
Mush - Mush - MUSH!

Hurry Here! Hurry There! Hurry, Hurry - Everywhere!
No Time to Think - No Time to Wait!
“Got a Very Important Date!

Like the Rabbit, and Alice’s Mad Hatter -
Too Busy to See -
Just What’s The Matter!

The “Ship’s Chandler” - Constantly on TV -
Chanting Chanties - “BUY ME! BUY ME!”
Hardtacks - Ship Biscuits - Sea Biscuits - Pilot Bread!

Yes, my Friends - Water and Bread -
This is our Main Course - our Anchor - our Stead!
“Three Squares a Day” is just in your Head!

“It’s just a Shanty, in Old Shantytown,
The roof is so Slanted, it touches the Ground,
Just an old Tumbled-down Shack, by an old Railroad track,
But, like a Millionaire’s Mansion, it’s calling me Back!
I’d give up a Palace if I were a King,
It’s more than a Palace, it’s My Everything!
There’s a Queen waiting there, in a Silvery Crown,
In a Shanty - in Old shantytown!”

Back in “The Good Ole Days”
My Dad, and Aunts and Uncles, sang That Old Tune.
Somebody “Pounded The Ivory” and We Sang Along!

But - Many a Year Ago, their SHIPS all left Port -
Set Sail for a Gentler, Heavenly Climate -
Where there are: No Reefs, No Fog, No Turmoil!

“I Think that I Shall Never See -
A Poem Lovely as a Ship -
A Ship that may in Summer Wear -
Gals in Bikinis - with Hinies So BARE!”
Water’s Warm - Think - “I’ll Take A Dip!”

“Poems are made by Fools like Me -
But - Even God couldn’t Sink The Titanic!”
SURE!


SHIPS AHOY!

© - TKH