Poetry

[Jerry]

I found this poem in some of my old files. I apologize to the author for not giving him or her due credit but I thought the poem quite appropriate for those of us with one foot on the dock & the other on the deck.

The Double Life

How very simple life would be
If only there were two of me
A Restless Me to drift and roam
A Quiet Me to stay at home.
A Searching One to find his fill
Of varied skies and newfound thrill
While sane and homely things are done
By the domestic Other One.

And that's just where the trouble lies;
There is a Restless Me that cries
For chancy risks and changing scene,
For arctic blue and tropic green,
For deserts with their mystic spell,
For lusty fun and raising Hell,

But shackled to that Restless Me
My Other Self rebelliously
Resists the frantic urge to move.
It seeks the old familiar groove
That habits make. It finds content
With hearth and home -- dear prisonment,
With candlelight and well-loved books
And treasured loot in dusty nooks,

With puttering and garden things
And dreaming while a cricket sings
And all the while the Restless One
Insists on more exciting fun,
It wants to go with every tide,
No matter where...just for the ride.
Like yowling cats the two selves brawl
Until I have no peace at all.

One eye turns to the forward track,
The other eye looks sadly back.
I'm getting wall-eyed from the strain,
(It's tough to have an idle brain)
But One says "Stay" and One says "Go"
And One says "Yes," and One says "No,"
And One Self wants a home and wife
And One Self craves the drifter's life.

The Restless Fellow always wins
I wish my folks had made me twins.

[Alan Wheeler]

I'm a real Bloke. Real Blokes don't do poetry. I'm a real Bloke, when I go to the beach, I kick sand in my own face. I'm such a real bloke, my wife Irons the shirts around here, while I am still wearing them.
I'm a real Bloke, when I want to see nature, I turn on the Dicovery channel. I love exploring the countryside and mountains. My motto is, if ya can't drive to it, it can't be worth looking at. Yeup, I'm a real Kiwi Bloke, with a real Bloke shed and Real Bloke tools. I don't do Poetry. ;-)
:-)) :-)

What's an iron?

[Canibul]

I think irons are them things that there are always too many of in the fire all the time... at least thats what my ex-shrink claimed...

either that or the wind aint blowing....I forget.

Arrrr! I thought twas what me ex put me in

[Sunspot Baby]

Its by Don Blanding,Hawaiian Poet Laureate and Founder of Lei Day. A man after my own heart if he could only spell Lay correctly.

George

[Starbuck]

George,

Your confusion about spelling may explain why you get slapped by the girls so often…

[Canibul]

"Lei Lady, Lei".....?
Well, it certainly sounds the same, but somehow...well....I dunno....

[Alan Wheeler]

Oops, an iron is a device we use for "hot ironing" out the wrinkles in clothing. We add water and have steam coming out the base as we "Iron" the clothes. I think you US folks call that Pressing the clothes??
So what would you US folks call the electrical appliance that does that?
We have an "Iron" and an "Ironing Board" that the clothes are laid out on and steam ironed. A steam press here is actually a double board that the clothing is laid out on and the top board is brought down and a shot of steam applied.
Anyways', I do hope you all realise my comments were kinda tongue in cheeck poetry'ish.

[Canibul]

We call it an "iron" too, and I think we understood your "cheeky" poetry comments.

I like poetry, but my tastes tend to be toward the Robert Service genre.

I do remember the one about Oscar Wilde on the burning deck....

[Jerry]

There is no doubt in my mind that many of you all (when students) drove many a good teacher from the profession in utter frustration. Drugs, it must be drugs......that's the only logical explanation!

[Sunspot Baby]

Any one who has tried to tack a catamaran knows what irons are, as wehn I stall the beast and am in irons. :-)

George

[Canibul]

Jerry, well, would you believe I never inhaled??

[Alan Wheeler]

What's that poem with the line, "All I need is a tall ship and a star to steer her by" ???

[Canibul]

Well, in Star Trek V, The Final Frontier (1989) it was said:

"Kirk: All I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer by.
McCoy: Melville...
Spock: ...John Maysfield.
McCoy: Are you sure about that?
Spock: I am well-versed in the classics, Doctor.
McCoy: Then how come you don't know "Row, Row, Row Your Boat?"