For goodness sake
grant me the bucket-list wish
of a boat
any boat will do
a picayune pram
to potter on a large pond
better still a proper rowboat
on a large lake
to drift down the wind lanes
a dry fly bobbing alluringly
on the ripple, gently retrieving
with the dream of a trout rising
A daysailer – better still
ducking the boom
on a dinghy is dodgy
at my age so day trips
on a Summer suitable sea
would fit the bill delightfully
sailing out and back
with the sea breeze
sometimes sleeping
in the cabin after stargazing
at anchor in some sheltering bay
And in the Winter
I would cherish
my little vessel
drawn up on the shore
cleaning and caulking
and laying on varnish
let me leave alliteration behind
and voyage forth
on real wavy waters –
so for goodness sake
one day
grant me a boat
© Andrew Wilson, 2024
Written for dVerse Poets Pub which is tonight has Merril Smith ably at the helm as she invites us to Sail into a poem for Poetics…
I love messing around in boats, Andrew, and your poem really appealed to me. I enjoyed the alliterative:
‘…picayune pram
to potter on a large pond’
and
‘ducking the boom
on a dinghy is dodgy’.
I also like the jaunty rhythm of:
‘cleaning and caulking
and laying on varnish’.
Messing about in boats – such fun!!!
Thanks Kim
Delightful, Andrew. I enjoyed your rippling alliterative lines and then your plea to “let me leave alliteration behind
and voyage forth
on real wavy waters –”
I know nothing of boats, but I hope you get yours.
I will be at the helm only within the bar, as I’d probably end up getting seasick on the boat. 😉
Who doesn’t like a poem littered with alliteration…
Thanks Merril
Love all that alliteration and dream of those small boat… for me a kayak or a canoe is perfect.
Ah yes – I didn’t think of those…
Perhaps one day you will get your boat! Great poem Andrew. Your descriptions of the different boats added a nice touch.
I probably need to hell that wish along a bit Dwight – truth be told…
If you wish long and hard enough, I wager it will come true. This was a delight to read!
Thanks Helen – I’m sure you’re right – everything starts with a dream or wish…
Thanks for the comment on my yacht poem. Mystery Man sold his yacht four or five years later .. formed a theatrical production company with a friend, consistently has shows they have co-produced or produced on Broadway (Two Tony awards!!) and London’s West End. He also sits high atop the hierarchy of NYC Metropolitan Opera. And a huge supporter of animal rights … He does get around.
Nice alliterative poem.
Alliteration is much less constraining than rhyme schemes I find and creates a poetic language of its own though the discipline of rhyme and metre are also great too…
Idyllic wishing and longing for “any boat will do” when your imagining in alliteration takes you exactly where you want to go, and us too!
Thanks, I certainly hope so Dora…
I love how you upsell from ‘any boat’ to your ideal boat.
‘sometimes sleeping
in the cabin after stargazing
at anchor in some sheltering bay’
…sounds heavenly. I also love your gentle realism of maintaining a boat with the half rhyme of cherish and varnish. Thanks for a lovely poem.
What a delightful write, Andrew! I love alliteration and really enjoyed your effortless alliterative verse.
Thank you Punam – don’t you think writing poetry is like learning another language – after a while you don’t have to consciously search for alliteration, metaphor, syllable count, metre and perhaps one day you find you are dreaming in Poesie…
I love the alliteration and the dream.
Thank you Sara – nothing ever happens if you don’t first dream it…
For some reason I thought Of Richard the Third’s “My kingdom for a horse …” 🙂 This is really alive, pops.
Thanks, Paul, nothing like alliteration for popping…
“sometimes sleeping
in the cabin after stargazing
at anchor in some sheltering bay”
Sounds delightful.⛵️
Greetings! I edit Forgotten Ground Regained (https://alliteration.net), a website devoted to modern English alliterative verse. I recently came across this poem, and want you to know I’ve added it to my index of poetry blog posts containing alliterative verse, here:
https://alliteration.net/community/poetswriters/
Thanks for sharing your work!