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Tonya
Member since January 18, 2009
Member for 17 years, 4 months
member
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A Sailors Plight
A Sailor’s Plight
Heavy clouds, with their bellies stained red,
Fill sea faring hearts with contemptuous dread.
Wary eyes scan the heavens,
Whispered prayers leave the lips,
St Francis give courage! Add strength to the ship!
Upon the horizon, watching wicked winds pick up,
They know they’ll be testing their erratic luck.
Feeling sea spray upon them, in temperate gust,
The ocean caresses with her blood thirsty lust.
Myth mixes with fact in the terror on board,
They call to the ancients, Gods from before,
Oh great Poseidon! Call your mistress home,
Nine from the crew are already gone.
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Washed to the depths of this deep briny mire,
What else do you need? What more is required?
Is passage not paid for our trespassing sin?
You’ve collected so many in your watery den.
Please leave us afloat, give us some sort of sign
That death to us all is not your intended design.
Hundreds before have been taken below,
Why do you look upon us as your foe?
We are no threat, nothing to fear,
Why won’t you listen? Why can’t you hear?
Upon deaf ears all their pleas did fall,
Insignificant, they are, in the path way is all.
This war, that reigns, is between sky and sea.
They are but pawns, caught in-between.
The gods they all laugh at these creatures so small,
The battle cry sounded, they’re only meeting the call.
But, weary they grow of this unconquerable clash,
Rough waves subside; wind eases its lash.
Those that survive breathe deep with relief
Once again, they are safe, their lives they will keep.
The gods shake their heads, will never perceive,
Why mans adventurous glory sets sail on the sea.
© Tonya Greenlee
Tonya’s timeline
- January 2024
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17 WedAnniversary
15 years of membership
- January 2020
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28 TueNew follower
@Trouble
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26 SunReceived a critique
on A Sailors Plight from @Edna Sweetlove
"...but what has St Francis got to do with seafarers? He was a landlubber and is apparently famed for his love of animals. PS You could do with an apostrophe in the title." -
14 TueReceived a critique
on A Sailors Plight from @Eumolpus
"With the comments concerning craft. Very good images and charged words with some inconsistencies in rhythm which are too far off and stanzas would give more breathing space, but overall a good work. The opening cloud im…" -
13 MonReceived a critique
on A Sailors Plight from @scribbler
"Good to see you are back. The eternal battle men have with the sea is well described in this poem. i DO wonder why you didn't use stanzas in order to give the reader a pause now and then to catch their breath lol......s…" -
13 Mon
- December 2019
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02 MonReceived a critique
on Don't Give a Damn from @Edna Sweetlove
"I think I DO know what I am talking about, although I would not go so far as to claim to be an expert on the running of your country. I studied American political history as part of my university course, I have even rea…" -
02 MonReceived a critique
on Don't Give a Damn from @Edna Sweetlove
"Dear Tonya I gather from this that you dislike sarcasm, cynicism and "profanity" (whatever you might mean by that word). You also seem to dislike anything which criticises your own world-view (whatever that might be). I…" -
02 MonCritiqued
"Epitaph for a Brave Soldier" by @Edna Sweetlove
"Edna. I feel your work, most of it that I have read, is for pure shock value. Although you do paint a very vivid picture for your reader, your verse leaves a bad taste in ones mouth. I find your style of vulgarity somew…" - November 2019
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27 WedReceived a critique
on excuse me from @Edna Sweetlove
"Most (but not all) of the exclamation marks in the Coleridge are, in fact, genuine exclamations, eg. Beware! Oh! etc. etc. Ditto the Ginsberg (which incidentally is littered with grammatical errors including the egregio…" -
27 Wed
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26 TueReceived a critique
on excuse me from @Edna Sweetlove
"What on earth does a "Kaddish" have to do with exclamation marks, or indeed with any other form of punctuation?" -
20 Wed
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19 TueCritiqued
"Sheeple" by @Temporal Fugue
"I hope that it is mere coincidence if I fall in with the sheep! I like the poem! I enjoyed the rhythm and message. However, I thought the crowd, sheep, mob..these are all plural. When we read to the snowflake line...sho…" -
17 Sun
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17 SunCritiqued
"Sic transit gloria Americae" by @Edna Sweetlove
"The United States: The Most Generous Humanitarian Country? ON SEPTEMBER 22, 2018WORLD NEWS SEATTLE — The United States provides foreign assistance to 96 percent of the world to promote peace, security, provide humanitar…" -
17 Sun
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17 SunCritiqued
"Sic transit gloria Americae" by @Edna Sweetlove
"Wow is right! What a mouthful of HATRED YOU SPEW! It's starting to come back to me, some of the reasons I quit writing! Because of loud mouth ignorant people that don't know what the hell they are talking about! Ya know…" -
17 SunCritiqued
"Sic transit gloria Americae" by @Edna Sweetlove
"Let me try my comments again, at the risk of stirring the proverbial pot! 1st of all, it would be a Very good thing for individuals to learn the meaning of humility. Arrogance is not a kind picture to paint. Just becaus…" -
10 Sun
- January 2019
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17 ThuAnniversary
10 years of membership
- January 2014
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17 FriAnniversary
5 years of membership
- July 2011
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26 Tue
- April 2011
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29 FriNew follower
@press
- March 2011
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21 Mon
- December 2010
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23 Thu
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22 WedNew follower
@Blue_Halcyon
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20 Mon
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02 Thu
- November 2010
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28 Sun
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10 Wed
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09 Tue
- July 2010
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14 Wed
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11 Sun
- January 2010
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17 SunAnniversary
One year of membership
- May 2009
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08 Fri
- April 2009
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15 WedHighest posting month
April 2009 — 13 poems
- January 2009
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19 MonFirst critique offered
on "the Conclusion (adult theme)" by @RSScheerer
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19 MonFirst publication
Wicked Lightning
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17 SatJoined Neopoet
Membership begins
First poem published 2 days later.
About Me
Location: USA
Recent Work
A Sailors Plight
Posted:
excuse me
Posted:
Night
Posted:
no title, yet
Posted:
Subterfuge for Loyalty?
Posted:
Don't Give a Damn
Posted:
I Am Fossil
Posted:
untitled
Posted:
Contest Wins
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