Pirate Ship

 

I was a disposable disaster at first, a thousand

Light years ago. We sail the seas we're given, and

Like all of you I did my best to survive , but that doesn't mean we get

To survive it like you. Our course may have blown us

 

Completely off the known map. When that happens you

Don't just meet the occasional monster who's

Slipped into the unfriendly waters by mistake.

You are in the territory of monsters.

 

There's only one way out, and that is to sin

Against God and man until you can see the

Shores again of some reason and less remorse. That may

Take some getting used to, after you have plainly

 

Shed all modern decency for the rags of

The wild thick way forward. More than your clothes are

Shredded beyond recognition. Your eyes have

Seen more than enough of the infinite and

 

Vulgar varieties of stars. Your hands have

Grasped enough desperate ropes to be welded

With the mortar of many calluses. I'm

Not saying this to scare you. The world extends

 

In all directions, but you have a clear choice.

It's true, the poetic waters are even

More beautiful than your unopened tube of

Cerulean blue. I don't want to fool you.

 

I'm not trying to warn you. I don't care what

They say this adventure is or isn't. I

Reject all definitions of the impulse

To travel alone with the muse. Now you are catching

 

On. You are the captain of this voyage.  Not

A stowaway. Not a mere ticket holder. Not

A wooden vacationer either. But again, you

May go on down that plank right now and get off this world. No

 

One will be the wiser. You can opt for a 

Romantic image of the ship receding

Into your memory like a sun whitened

Water lily, or you can cast your glances

 

To the old worlds and wave a finger goodbye. Don't get me

Wrong, we don't recommend this life.  It is full

Of the unknown metaphors, unexpected,

Maybe even unexplored jungles of words

 

And new dangerous sentences. Dangerous dripping paragraphs

May present themselves to you in a sudden

Grab for thicker meaning. The possibilities are

Overwhelming in the calmest of times, so if you are willing? Then let's go.

 

dp

Bonus Poems:

An Unknown Madness by Darryl Price

 

It's all been a pretty lonely town

for a little lost fool like me. I'm

not accepting any more paid for

excuses. We're full up. Matter of

fact, we'll be returning them for a

refund today. Keep your blue movies,

the splattered chunks of bait money, its

inevitable sequel about

nothing more than modern grasses giving up the ghosts. Keep

 

the sad religion of idols for middle-aged

idiots. Keep the politics of

awkward stunted creeps on the loose. You can also

keep the tyrannical rants and the

equally silly psychotic raves

of sadistic radio hosts. Keep

the so-called love of ultimate greed.

Free is better. That's all—it's not a

Saturday morning mystery program. It's

 

not an unknown madness. It's a wild dog's

only choice. Keep the future free. Keep the

entombed past out of my face. Keep the

squeezed-out golden praises on silver

paper away from my pen. Yeah, it's been lonely. Thank god

for the Beatles. For comedians.

For the passionate dancers. The brave painters. Poets.

Gardeners. The bicycle riders.

The dreamers out every day. Thinkers. I give you my thanks.     

All the Words

 

Let the world listen in. What

Are you afraid of, the shadow wolves?

I get it. King Liar is

Drinking his oil down like an

Ice cold coke and it's at least

One hundred degrees on the

Freshly mowed golf course of his

Demented fake dreams. But where

Are you going? What are you doing now?

I get it. King Liar has

Insulted all the words in

The dictionary that mean

The word love in action. Yet,

You are still hiding behind

Some awful words yourself for empty, words

For hollow, instead of a few kind

Words for open up my eyes, for be here

Now, for one of these days. I

Get it. King Liar's taken

An axe to a beautiful

Family of trees and split

The forest into gated

Communities, all for the

Sake of protecting hoarded money

From being used to heal the

Earth, North and South, East and

West. But what direction are

You facing? Is it one that

Radiates? King Liar will

Do everything in his stolen

Power to protect his

Own hole in the shade using

Every poisoned tooth in his

Arrogant mouth. No child is

Safe. So will you protect them?

Or will you twist on your own bought spine.       

The Funny Question

 

The world is all the love we

Will be given. How will you

Make it work? That isn't

The funny question you

Think it is. If you're not

In charge of the button

 

Then who is? That guy over there

Is you in another

Life, another disguise.

Call it a refraction,

But dream it's in a color you believe in,

Wheels spinning through space and

 

Time waiting for a true

Love of its own. We don't

Need to define things in

Any permanent manner.

To do so is to freeze

On the spot and never

 

Get up to dance again.

Who among you wants to

Simply stagnate, inside  

A statue's hollow four

Walls, garden or not, not

Able to enjoy the

 

Sun from a different

Angle? There are no wings

On a wall. The world is

All the love we must work

With. It should be enough.

There's only one way to

 

Find out, be sure. Isn't

That funny, turns out they

Were right—they weren't messing

Us around—it's really

A single eye looking

Everywhere at once.