Thoughts and words from Longarms McPunchington
Monday, June 12, 2017
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
So, this is very much related to my experience on Niagara and how I now evaluate mates.
Someday we will break
the cycle.
P.S. It's not that hard to become one of you.
Mates
What
can I say, mates are an unfortunate
Fact
of boat life.
I’ve
worked with many
And
in large part,
They
are absolute shit.
Imagine
the worst boss you
Have
ever had.
Now
imagine that at the end of the
Workday
he drives your car home
And sleeps
in your house.
You
see the problem here.
You are
never quite free of the mate on a boat.
Mates
divide neatly into
Two categories
of incompetence
And poor
leadership.
One.)
Academy Brats, mostly recipients of
Small
vessel operations degrees from a plethora
Of maritime
academies.
They
know how to steer a boat (mostly)
But have
no grasp of what is entailed in
Working
on the deck of a boat (entirely)
Academy
brats are the more innocuous
Variety
as their inability to properly tie
A square
knot is amusing (here’s looking at
You Maine
Maritime) and they are slightly
More
personable than hawse pipers.
Last
hitch I discovered that one of our
Academy
brats thought you could store jugs
Of orange
juice in the pantry unrefrigerated.
You can’t
make this shit up folks.
Two.)
Hawse Pipers, I.E. Mates who worked their way up
From
deckhand positions.
They
know how to steer a boat (mostly)
And
have a solid grasp of what is entailed
In working
on deck (Mostly)
Hawse
Pipers can be, and often are, as illiterate and
Ignorant
as deckhands, meaning that they have all the
Personality
and charm of a wet fart fired into my morning
Coffee,
another turd elevated to a position of power.
What
could go wrong? How are these people in charge of me?
They
spend the majority of their time telling deckhands
How much
better they were on deck in their day
And how
much worse they had it.
The
nautical equivalent of your dads “I walked uphill
Both
ways to school, and it was always winter, and I had
Only
bread bags for shoes.” And, Just like dad’s story,
It’s
all bullshit.
One
of our hawse pipe mates in particular loves to talk
About
how we deckhands these days don’t have any
Pride
in anything we do anymore.
He
must weigh three hundred pounds, I find that ironic.
The man
turned what could have been a perfectly tuned
Ferrari
into the smoking aftermath of a demolition derby.
And still
you comment on how we don’t have pride in anything.
You destroyed
the physical vessel in which your worthless
Spirit
must reside for all of your days on this earth.
Don’t
you dare presume to speak to me on pride.
My
name literally means it, and compared to you my body
Shows
it.
In six
years working on boats
I’ve
known only two good mates.
Authoritative,
fair, personable, kind,
Reasonable,
compassionate, competent, and professional.
Through
these traits and their refusal to project their bad treatment
As deckhands
onto to their crew they showed me what to be when
I become
a mate.
P.S. It's not that hard to become one of you.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
What
I Know
The
other day you told me
That
I knew everything and
That
you loved it.
I
think it was because I knew
That
Iranians speak Farsi and are
Not
considered an Arab People.
I
think this came up because
We
were discussing the nationality
Of Khalil
Gibran. (He was Lebanese in case
You
didn’t know. I didn’t.)
Yes
I know a lot of things,
But
foremost amongst these things
That
I know is that despite all of them
I
don’t know that much.
Largely
I’ve absorbed things
That
much cleverer people than I
Have
figured out originally, before
The
age of google.
Not
particularly flattering to myself
I
know, but it’s a huge timesaver.
Regardless
of my semi smart status
In
this simian society I’m glad that you
Like
that I know things. I’m glad you
Know
things too.
Right
now, paddling languidly about
On
this freighter off the coast of Milwaukee
Here
is what I know.
I
know that I like the way your hair smells
And
the way your lips taste.
I
know that despite this I don’t
Know
you that well.
I
know that I want to get
To
know you better.
I
know that this job makes
Having
a ground presence with the
People
and things that are important
To
you harder than it should be.
I
know that this sucks.
I
know I can take it.
I
know I will be home again soon.
I know
that no matter how distant,
My
friends and family will be
There
when I get back.
I
know that I will always come back.
Saturday, November 21, 2015
So, I'm using my mobile hotspot to upload this from Lake Michigan.
It's rough but I had fun with it.
It's rough but I had fun with it.
After 32 days on the lakes
Im gonna
come off this motherfucker
Like
a wild eyed whirlwind.
I’ve
got 32 days worth of
Living
to do and only 14
Days
to do it in.
My ships
come in so
You better
get on board
Or get
out of the way.
I
want to run through these woods
Feeling
the soft green brown things
Under
my boot soles and feet.
No more
steel or concrete.
I’m
just a straight shooting
Coyote
chasing
Fish
getttin, ill rhyme spitting
Cracker
ass son of bitch and I am here to
Show
you that none of this is synonymous
With
bigot, or racist, but how to say it?
Let
me consult the sky.
I follow
the movement waiting for the
Crack,
the split, the aperture, the opening.
Yes!
Show me, bathe me in the immaculate
Light
that I might share your beauty and might.
As I
wait I think about how tired I have
Grown
of being portrayed as a beast.
I am
not a savage force to be controlled
I am
love to be unleashed.
WAIT!
The light! The light!
There
it is!
We are universally applicable,
Transmutable,
Evolvable,
Immortal,
Integratable
Optimizable,
Fully
upgradable,
Totally
limitless beings whose true nature is love.
Difference
and alienation are only created
Innovated
by those wishing us to remain divided
Separated
from the whole, the love, the peace
That
is our birthright.
Thank
You.
On
the way out of the woods
I decided
to go home and lose my mind
And by
mind I mean something that
Is not
mine.
Seeking
stillness to
Rid myself
of the film,
The filth,
the sediment
Obscuring
the third eye lense.
Not mine
but theirs,
Impure,
unnecessary, malignant,
Obfuscating
my perspective
Of this
wholly subjective.
The stiller
I become
The closer
to the achievement
Of the
objective.
Peace.
Give
me peace in stillness
Lift
me from the illusion
Unleash
me from the bullshit
Bring
me to conclusion.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
So it's been a while. Don't know what to call this yet.
As usual, this has been edited very little if any.
The reading tempo should be quick.
As usual, this has been edited very little if any.
The reading tempo should be quick.
She
reminded me that there are
Beautiful
women out there and
Finding
them is as simple as saying
Would
like to meet me for drinks
At molly’s
at seven thirty?
She
also reminded me that
You have
to piss with the peeter
God
gave you and sometimes that
Is not
a peeter at all.
Have
I introduced you to my St. Peter?
He
watches over my pearly gates.
I’ve
pushed more peeter more sweeter
More
completer than any peeter pusher
You ever
met, fuck all those other guys,
Andrew
Bartholomew
James
the Elder
James
the Younger
John
Jude
Judas
Matthew
Phillip
Simon
and
Thomas
I
met you for the new Bond flick
At 6:15,
I was late on account of the state
Of my
hair, intransigent.
It
said Fuck you Jeremy and your
Plans
for making me look nice.
I am
tired of remaining smashed
Under
a hard hat unseen.
Unseen
I wish I could have remained
As I
said hello to that red bearded spectre
From
my past while he stood in the movie
Theatre
mens room peeter in hand.
I’ve
got to hand it to you red beard,
You’ve
improved, I talked a lot of shit
But I
always thought you had the potential
To be
the third good mate, sounds like
You’re
close.
Close,
get close, don’t the blue eyes
Scare
you off, logically you know she wants the
Lip to
lip, hence all the exploratory arm touch
Awkward
close posture rigamorol.
When
lips hit lips I let the thought quit.
Feels
good, feels nice, do it again,
Once,
twice, thrice until the credits roll
Then
get it back under control
Out of
the darkness, into the light.
Let
the door slam on Hope
Then
talk awkwardly for a second
Re-inviting
her presence into your life
With
Sydnee as bystander to the social samba.
After
the drive back you awkwardly
Debated
what should happen next and
Bravely
decided to invite me in.
I’m
glad because that means I got to
Watch
that thing wiggle up the steps.
What
a monument to the skill of the immortal
Architect,
heart shaped, plump, ivory, pliable
Marble
masterpiece.
(yes
this line is about your ass.)
At
the top you remarked on how hard I was to reach,
Too tall
for easy access, don’t worry, I’ll come to
I
want this too.
On
the couch you remark on how it makes
You slouch,
but no matter I just want to lean in
And get
close.
The
ladies at work say no no no this
Can’t
work, watch out for sailors, they’re
Trouble
and he might be gay. But you checked
With
my St. Peter and he is totally buying
The gospel
you be preaching.
Thus
instigated my hands get motivated
But you
stopped me and stated, I’m not
Going
to fuck you. I don’t miss a beat
Saying
I’m not going to fuck you either
And it
takes two to tango.
Those
that fuck on the second date
Are either
heart breakers or get heart broken
And there
is something wrong with both
Until
now unspoken.
Lack
of love for self or love for others
And we
have neither.
And
now despite that ass too much time
Has passed
and I must leave you in the
Grace
and mercy of our lord.
Please
excuse the popcorn that fell on the floor.
Some
would say this poem is over
But I think there is
always more.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Fortress
Cultivate a strong mental attitude.
The framework of a citadel,
A keep, a fortress.
Make your inner serenity
So imperturbable as to
Silence the white noise
Empty drone of this world.
The empty products.
The empty jobs.
The empty people.
With enough dedication
And proper decisions
At the hard places.
At the broken places.
At the poignant places of
Great sadness and loneliness
Only the good,
The noble,
The uplifting,
The loyal,
The long suffering,
And the righteous,
Will ever be permitted to enter
Monday, April 20, 2015
Not A Bluebird 4/20/2015
There is not a blue bird
but a dragon in my heart.
And no matter how I try
he comes out when he likes,
unbidden.
He shows others his
blackness and rage
and drives them away.
No matter my effort
I cannot keep him within
and the cost is more than I
can bear.
It costs in loss the dragon.
Loss of all the people and things
I love.
Slowly,
inexorably,
he takes it all.
Though not a Bluebird,
he weeps like one.
But I dont weep.
Do you?
There is not a blue bird
but a dragon in my heart.
And no matter how I try
he comes out when he likes,
unbidden.
He shows others his
blackness and rage
and drives them away.
No matter my effort
I cannot keep him within
and the cost is more than I
can bear.
It costs in loss the dragon.
Loss of all the people and things
I love.
Slowly,
inexorably,
he takes it all.
Though not a Bluebird,
he weeps like one.
But I dont weep.
Do you?
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