The Midnight Sky

Have you ever been under the midnight sky, riding along with the salty spray across the barren sea?
With only the stars and moonlight shinning bright to whisper to your thoughts

As I set upon this rickety porch, and look toward the open waters, that once was a part of me
The dreams of when I was young and free, keeps flooding back and haunts me, in the middle of the night when I'm alone, without a soul to keep me company

The memories of the wild ocean lay deep within my mind
I remember slicing around Cape Horn, in the early morning hours

With a copper sky, behind the mast, which highlights the beauty of the day?
While the ice cold waves, that broached the ship, brings contentment to my soul

The sounds of the sea, remains in me, for all these many years
Which adds to the joy, to this weathered sailor, who longs to be aboard a ship, within the swells of an endless wake?

How I wish I could go back and sail around the Horn, in the ship that was my life
until time caught up and I got old, for only the sea is ageless

The sky, and fog, the savage tides at night, brings comfort to my misty eyes, as I look towards the ocean, from the porch of my land locked ship

That now becomes my home, until the middle of the night, when my dreams begin to flow, and I'm back at sea, where I long to be

In wait of God, calling me to the harbor of his love, where I'll dock my ship upon his pier and sail no more forever

Written by: Roland R. Ruiz
September 17, 2006

Dreams of Life

Dedicated To: A Californian Friend

The dreams of life was once forgotten
When once in darkness I reposed

But now as I awake, from my slumber
In the brightness of the morn

I feel the dreams I thought forgotten
Not those that really matter

But in my search for something different
To soothe the trembles in my heart

I hap to find the love of you
From which I vow to n'eer depart

But if that love I look to find
Has left my heart unbridled

The darkness that once filled my soul
Will never in my heart repose

Now the brightness of the light
Fills my heart with love

I will humbly thank the Creator
Who lives in the realm above

But only when my time is done
And he's ready to call me home

Only then will I relent my love of you
For my heavenly home above

Copyright C.P. Dhuet & Roland R. Ruiz

Waters of Life

Artwork courtesy of www.eaglezen.com

What if I could relive my life, and start all over again
Would I change my ways, I sometimes wonder as I asked myself

If all that I've ever done, could be placed in front of me
What choice would my soul select, for the rest of eternity?

Should I take the same road, in my trek thru troubled times?
Or would I change direction, and go where no harm can reach my heart

To play it safe, as one would say, and stay on the high side of life
Without the pain, to release the tears which resides so deep in me?

How often one must face this choice, in the daily chores of strife
For those who make this passage in time, on the road which leads to death

Have a decision that must be made, as we thread upon the waters of life
For in the end, a final choice awaits for each of us

To live in internal bliss, with the one who created all we've seen
Or stay forever without the love, he gives freely to one and all

It is for us to decide, for myself I have no fear, in the choice which I shall make
I'll ask his Son who died for me, to forgive my mortal sins

And hope and pray, my sins are cleansed, in the blood he shed for me
So I'll follow him to his Father's palace, and Heaven will be my home

Where I'll sing with all the Angels, and multitudes, which fill his house with love
There I'll bask in the glow of his everlasting grace, in the room he prepared for me

For all eternity

Written by: Roland R. Ruiz
September 14, 2006

Golden Sands

Dedicated To: Evangeline, My Beloved

As I thread upon the golden sands
Which leads to thoughts of you?

I think of the years, shared together
In the sunshine of my dreams

They come at night to soothe my soul
This fills my heart with love

As I turn onto my pillow, from the softness of our bed
I see the total beauty, which lies within my grasp

I think of all we've accomplished, since we became just one
And wishing we could go back, to relive our youth again

For in the silken sands we've trodden, in our march thru time
Has brought to us a life of richness

Filled with love and laughter, along with many tears we've shed
To wash our pain away

I think of love ones, and friends, who shared our wedding day
How many have passed, to their just reward
Leaving only memories, to keep within our hearts

Our life has been a blessing, for all these many years
All that I have ever been, is due because of you

As I gaze upon the women who's made my life complete
I'll pray for God, to bless, the years he'll grant to us
And thank him for what he's given, in our trek thru life's embrace

One final thought I'll leave behind, as I drift back to my dreams
Grow old along with me; my beloved for the best is yet to be

Written by: Roland R. Ruiz
September 07, 2006

Voyage of Loneliness

Dedicated To: Oralia Culler

Author's Note
The Ultimate Solo Challenge will soon begin, this around the world yacht race is called VELUX 5 OCEANS, is one of the most established, continuously run, single-handed round the world yacht race. It has taken place every four years since 1982. The race is the longest and toughest event, for any individual in any sport, October 22, of 2006, the race will begin, and the skippers will sail over 30,000 miles of ocean alone, facing all the extremes that nature can throw at them, this poem is dedicated in to these few brave men who dare to challenge nature, and all its elements.....

I've seen the majestic stars twinkling brightly, beneath the shadows of a moonless night
Watched the sparkles of the Northern Lights, in the coldness of a Norwegian fjord

I've crossed the oceans, so many times without the feel of solid ground, to support my aging feet
And seen so many different sites in my travels around this world

For I've sailed upon the seven seas, watching swells of cresting waves, swirling within the undulations, of a unforgiving mass
But what I remember most, which remains deep within my thoughts

Is the loneliness felt, in the vastness of the ocean, which lies beneath my keel
Its been six weeks since I left Bilbao, Spain, on an early October morn on route to Fremantle, Australia, by early December, on the first leg of the race

With a lay over to rest my weary bones, I'll pursue a trek towards America
On the banks of the Chesapeake Bay, hoping to make Norfolk, by mid March in the early part of next year

Then cross the wild Atlantic, back to Bilbao, to claim the prize I hope to win by the middle of April, I pray
That is if I'm able to keep my sanity, in this God forsaken abyss

Which is to be my home for the next six months, how lonely will I be
As I ponder aboard my solo yacht, which protects me from the mysteries which lie below the water line, within this endless wake

I think of God so high above, and say a prayer to him, please dear Lord, give me strength to cope with the feelings I have inside my heart
Alone at sea without a friend to convey the many thoughts, which resides so deep in me

If you could keep me in a frame of mind, which will hold me in one piece
And let me finish, what I've started, to reach the end I seek

Then I'll know I've given my best, win or lose, I've been faithful to the quest
And passed the test, and the prize called life, I've won

Written by: Roland R. Ruiz
September 04, 2006

Cabin Boy

Dedicated To: Xavier Christopher Magallanes

Whenever I go back to the sea, it is with a tear in my eye
For I recollect the lad that I was, and the memories flood back to me

I was just short of fifteen, when I boarded a ship
From a pier, on the Bay of St. John's

Due to a friend, who snuck me aboard, a cabin boy I became
So off I sailed to see the world, for I knew I could learn the ways of the sea

If given half of a chance, so I did what was told, and kept to myself
And watched and learned what needed to be done, to keep this vessel afloat

For the years brought me the craft of the trade, and a sailor I soon came to be
I was taught the skills, by the best of the crew, how my hands did burn with the rope

But soon I was able to keep up with the best, and a cabin boy I was no more
For I was a whaler, my home town New Bedford, and I never regretted my move

That was nearly 40 years ago, now I'm landlocked, without a ship to steer my heart, towards the ocean's blue

How hollow my life has become, since the sea which I love, is no longer a part of me
As I look from the shore, towards the horizon, within the misty fog
A ship of fate waits for me, to take me to my new home

Now as my life nears an end, I think of my yesteryears
I pray that my dreams, of the oceans I've sailed

Will be waiting for me, when I dock at the home port of God

Written by: Roland R. Ruiz
September 1, 2006