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Thread: Poetry and Creative writing

  1. #16
    paddy Paddy's Avatar
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    Default I MUST GO DOWN TO THE SEA AGAIN!

    Thats a fantastic poem. I must say this it is very like Masefield.Yet sea poets would most likely be influenced by the poet Masefield as he wrote the finest sea poetry. I like the narrative poem called the Dauber you have mostly likely read it.

    My mate died last year. He was a Watford lad who loved Liverpool, as his first voyage as a training ships egineer was out the port of Liverpool. He told me as a young fella walking along the dock road he asked a docker where the blue Star ship he was looking for was and the docker replied 'the Star is over there and your the star thats getting on it'.

    Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
    Time held me green and dying
    Though I sang in my chains like the sea.

    Dylan Thomas

  2. #17
    Captain Kong captain kong's Avatar
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    When the POOL FISHER sank 29 years ago this month, 6 November 1979, the wages were stopped for them on the day she sank.
    13 died and two young lads survived, I was a witness at the inquest and the Court of Inquiry.
    Most of the families lived in the North West and they had to pay their own fares and accommodation to the Inquest in Gosport, Hampshire,
    One year later a young lady turned up at the Court of Inquiry, in Blackpool at the Norbreck Hotel. The ship owner didnt even tell the widows there was a Court of Inquiry. I spoke to her, then took her for a dinner on the Treasurers Solicitors expence.
    She lost her husband. She told me they were buying a three bed semi detatched house on a mortgage overlooking the Menai Straits, she had three children, one born after the sinking, She said she still had not recieved the wages that her dead husband had earned before he died. She could not pay her mortgage, they were evicted, and dumped in a two bed Council flat. His Mother went down to Bournemouth which overlooked the site of the sinking. She walked into the sea and drowned herself.
    The ship owners, were James Fisher of Barrow.
    Things dont change.

  3. #18
    paddy Paddy's Avatar
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    Thats an awful tale Kong, but good man for telling it.
    Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
    Time held me green and dying
    Though I sang in my chains like the sea.

    Dylan Thomas

  4. #19
    Captain Kong captain kong's Avatar
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    I am writing the whole story at the moment, I will post it when it is finished, it was a very sad event. I can still have nightmares over it.

  5. #20
    paddy Paddy's Avatar
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    I must admit I don't remember it too well but I will deffo look at your further stuff.
    Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
    Time held me green and dying
    Though I sang in my chains like the sea.

    Dylan Thomas

  6. #21
    Liverpool New Yorker! Ronijayne's Avatar
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    Great thread guys
    Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.

  7. #22
    Captain Kong captain kong's Avatar
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    Billy Pegleg.

    I have a friend called Billy Pegleg
    and he has a good leg
    and he also has a wood leg.
    and Billy is a ships cook and he lives upon the sea.
    and hanging by his griddle
    old Billy keeps his fiddle
    for fiddling in the dog watch while the moon shines on the sea.
    and its grand to see them dancing ,
    them bow legged sailors dancing
    while Billy plays his fiddle fast and free.
    and its good to see old Pegleg
    a waltzing on his woodleg
    when the Bosun plays the fiddle
    so old Peg can dance with me

    anon.

  8. #23
    Captain Kong captain kong's Avatar
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    Here`s one I wrote earlier.

    The Lap of Honour.

    I went to the `Vindi*`when I was a lad,
    where conditions were hard
    and the food was bad,
    but I walked through those gates
    as tall as a man
    off to my first ship bound for Japan

    And now I`ve retired and saved up my cash
    once more round the world I am going to dash
    to Mombasa and Java and out to Cathay
    to see all my old girl friends
    once more on the way

    Mimi`s still waiting for me I`ve been told
    I`d like to see her before she gets old
    then on to see Dedeh in Tanjong Patack
    then fly off on a Jumbo to Hong Kong`s Kai Tak

    I`ll go back to Tahiti down in the South Seas
    to see my Wahine in the warm sunny breeze
    Then across to see Maggie in New Zealand`s Hawkes Bay
    and have a beer in Ma Gleesons* back on the way

    I`ll do the Lap of Honour round the Australian coast
    to see all the girls who loved me the most,
    from Thursday Island round to Sydney and Perth
    they were the loveliest girls on earth

    I`ll go to see Sheila and then Marylou
    and call upon Mary in Woolloomooloo
    then go up to Townsville to see Mary O`Keefe
    where we walked hand in hand by the Great Barrier Reef

    When I think of those nights by a blue lagoon
    loving my girl under a tropical moon
    and those happy times that we both shared..........
    my Mary`s still waiting for me so I`ve heard.

    On then to Honolulu and then Frisco Bay
    and up to Vancouver and down to L.A.
    I`ll jump on a Greyhound across to Hoboken
    to see my Jenny whose heart I had broken

    In Manhattan`s Times Square and 42nd Street
    there must be some girls that I used to meet
    it would be sad if I looked around
    and none of my girls were there to be found.

    So off I would go to old Mexico
    to see my Juanita down in Tampico.
    then across to see Molly in Montego Bay
    and go up the Blue Mountains where we used to play

    On then to Rio, Montevideo and B.A.
    To May Sullivan`s Bar, where I used to stay.
    There was Rosita, Paquita and also Maria,
    On then to Santos and round to Bahia
    .
    Then when I return home again
    to Liverpool`s dark and dismal rain
    all my memories will always stay
    they are something that no one can take away

    I`ll be thinking now that I`ll get a shock
    on my memory trip to turn back the clock.
    things won`t be the same time has moved on
    the young girls I once loved have grown old and are gone.

    and now that I am coming to the end of my time
    I must put my memories down into rhyme.
    `cos when you are young life is all magic
    but as you get older life becomes tragic.

    but there is still some life in the old dog yet
    and there`s more adventures for me to get
    so I`ll be heading off into the sun
    to have more excitement and plenty of fun.

    I`ts not for me to tend the garden and flowers
    polishing the brasses , walking the dog for hours.
    but to go round the world in a blaze of glory
    then I`ll come back home to write my story.

    And then one day when I am old and grey
    and my life`s been used up and it`s come time to pay
    as I lie on my bed on my face will be a smile
    I`ll just be a thinking ` it`s all been worth while.

    Brian Aspinall, aka Captain Kong

  9. #24
    Keeping It Real !!!!!!!!! ItsaZappathing's Avatar
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    Very good Cpt Kong

  10. #25
    Captain Kong captain kong's Avatar
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    Here is one I like....

    Yesterday upon the stair
    I saw a man who wasnt there
    He wasnt there again today
    Oh how I wish he`d go away.


    anon

  11. #26
    Senior Member brian daley's Avatar
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    What happened,was there summat up? where's everyone gone. Not a sailor in sight when you need 'em. I'd got meself all geared up to reading more salty yarns and what've we got ,Zippo thats what! I guess I'll have to dig a few of mine out then.............................................. ...

  12. #27
    Captain Kong captain kong's Avatar
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    This is a poem of the USS TRIGGER in WW2.
    It was written by one of the crew who paid the ultimate price the next voyage.

    I'M THE GALLOPING GHOST OF THE JAPANESE COAST

    You don't hear of me and my crew.
    But just ask any man off the coast of Japan
    If he knows of the Trigger Maru.

    I look sleek and slender alongside my tender
    With others like me at my side,
    But we'll tell you a story of battle and glory,
    As enemy waters we ride.

    I've been stuck on a rock, felt the depth charge's shock,
    Been north to a place called Attu,
    and I've sunk me two freighters atop the equator
    Hot work, but the sea was cold blue.

    I've cruised close inshore and carried the war
    to the Empire Island Honshu,
    While they wire Yokahama I could see Fujiyama,
    So I stayed, to admire the view.

    When we rigged to run silently, deeply I dived,
    And within me the heat was terrific.
    My men pouring sweat, silent and yet
    Cursed me and the whole dam*ed Pacific.

    Then destroyers came sounding and depth charges pounding
    My submarine crew took the test.
    For in that far off land there are no friends on hand,
    To answer a call of distress.

    I was blasted and shaken some damage I've taken,
    my hull bleeds and pipe lines do, too
    I've come in from out there for machinery repair,
    And a rest for me and my crew.

    I got by on cool nerve and in silence I served,
    Though I took some hard knocks in return,
    One propeller shaft sprung and my battery's done,
    But I saw the enemy ships burn.
    .
    I'm the galloping ghost of the Japanese coast,
    You don't hear of me and my crew.
    But just ask any man off the coast of Japan,
    If he knows of the Trigger Maru.

    USS Trigger was lost with all hands during her twelfth patrol,
    on March 26, 1945.
    Last edited by captain kong; 11-28-2008 at 09:53 PM.

  13. #28
    Senior Member brian daley's Avatar
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    Default The Bosun's Story

    The Bosun's Story

    "Ice" said the bosun,sniffing like a dog
    Across the rail to wind'ard in the Cape Horn fog,
    "Ice" said the bosun "wot sunk the Skerryvore
    Time I siled onboard 'er back in seventy four".

    "The Ol' Man was looney - worst I ever knew;
    'E cracked on to blazes when it was thick as stew;
    'E bunged through it blindfold - fourteen knots we ran
    'Till we fouled a berg bigger 'n the blinkin' Calf of Man".

    "We run our bows on it in the middle of the night,
    An' a fallin' spar killed 'im - and **** well sarve 'im right!
    We took to the longboat, and it was jump or drown ;
    She'd 'ardly touched the water when the ship went down."

    "We made land at daybreak - ice an' sand an' stones,
    An' seabirds waitin' an' a wind that chilled your bones;
    An' for two blessed months there we lived like fightin'- cocks
    On the winkles an' seaweed we gathered off the rocks."

    "Till a spouter chanced to sight us , cruisin' round that way,
    Or else we'd be stiff 'uns layin' there to-day;
    An' ice said the bosun, sniffin' once again,
    "Is a thing I've had no use for , no ,never since then."

    This was written by a lady,Cicely Fox Smith, in 1931 .She captures the feeling of fear that all old blue watermen had for icebergs. A little known poem that deserves a better reading ,
    BrianD

  14. #29
    Senior Member brian daley's Avatar
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    Default A nearly Christmas Tale (well,almost)

    More than a couple of years ago ,my wife,Sue,and I were holidaying in Turkey ,in a little place called Altinkum. I was grey bearded even then and some folk said I had more than a passing resemblance to St. Nick.
    One evening we went to a little restaurant in a place called Prierne ,we were sat at a table for six even though we were only two in number. As we were waiting to catch the waiters eye ,a young couple with two small children entered the dining room and as they were waiting to be seated their daughter ,a girl of about six, spotted me and rushed across the restaurant and threw her arms around my legs and hugged me, She had the loveliest smile on her face as she looked up at me. Her parents raced to pull her off but she would not let go. My wife and I were laughing like hell but the young couple were clearly embarrassed. I invited them to sit with us as their daughter was evidently not going to go without a fight. So there six of us now and we ordered our meal with the little girl sat firmly at my side.She thought I was you know who. Mum and Dad quickly got over their initial embarrassment and they told us about their special daughter,she was 7 and had slight autism which made her very determined to see any thing through to the finish. her brother ,who was two years older was a wonderfully balanced young man and was very protective of his sister. We introduced ourselves and we told each other where we were from,when we mentioned Birmingham they told us that a family in their hotel was from Birmingham and that they had two children the same ages as their own and that the daughter of the other family was autistic like their own daughter and that the son was like their soon ,a protector of his special sister. We passed an enjoyable two hours and bade them goodbye. Next day we bumped into them again and the little girl once more took command of me, so we sat and had an ice cream with them.This time they told us more of the family from Birmingham,they were from M=====m Road in Kings Heath,the boys name was Jonathan and the girls name was Maria. Dad was a carpenter and Mum worked as a dinner lady at Jonathans school and they had brought Grandma along so that she could baby sit while mum and dad went out dancing. More information than we needed to know,but it passed the time.
    Scroll forward a few days and we find Sue and me relaxing on our Lilos on the beach in an adjacent bay,and there, not twenty yards away, was a family that resembled the profile of the family from Kings Heath. The boy and girl were busy digging a huge hole in the sand and they looked over at us and started whispering to each other. I tried reading my book but everytime I looked up I could see that I was under close scrutiny from the two youngsters. At length, the little girl walked slowly toward me and stood at the end of my Lilo and pronounced ,very nervously ,"My bruvver finks yew look like Farver Christmas" Her little index finger pushed against her lower lip. I lowered my book and put my finger to my pursed lips and said "Shsssh, I'm on holiday!" She blushed bright red and ran back to her brother,whispering excitedly;he dropped his spade and struutted toward me ,little chest thrust out and features flushed. "You're not Father Christmas " he proclaimed,giving me a look of defiance. I sat up and put down my book ."So, that means that you are not Jonathan, and that little girl is'nt Maria ,your sister" his jaw dropped and I went on..." so that means that your Dad is'nt a carpenter and your Mum is'nt dinner lady ,and that there old lady is'nt your Gran and you don't live in M=====m Rd. in Kings Heath in Birmingham. He was gasping "'Ow ooh ahh" his eyes like saucers and his mouth one big O. " Jonathan" I said looking over the top of my spectacles, "I am on holiday and this is a secret between Maria ,me and you " his little head was nodding frantically "You must'nt tell anyone d'you hear?" "Yes Father Christmas " he replied and he ran straight to Maria and had a hurried conflab with her and then both of them came back to us . They asked me to tell them all about Snowland and the elves and reindeer. And like an old fool I told them ,they were entranced. Each time we saw them after that they would give secret signs of recognition and beg anther story. On the last evening of our holiday ,both young families invited us to join them in a dinner farewell and I told Sue that I would tell the Kids that I had been kidding them. But when I saw their little faces that night I could'nt do it,they believed in me so much. Sue said I did the right thing,leave them with their dreams "The time they were on holiday with Santa Claus..........."
    Last edited by brian daley; 09-28-2010 at 11:57 AM. Reason: Mistakes

  15. #30
    Senior Member roccija's Avatar
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    Wonderful story Brian, that's what Christmas is all about, helping to make
    the children happy, - and really, "There is a Santa Claus" !!!!!!!!.

    Bob F

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