Alive N‘ 25* <freestyle>
By Kris
- 98 reads
5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1…
Ouch…
Feel’n the pain, face down stiff arm in back neck, body bench pressed as I strain…
I got noth’n to complain…
Try’n to exist in a moment of calm, cool and sain…
A bit of sigh’n, whine’n and cry’n, at this point it’s all the same…
Knee push’n deep in lower spine, hands back as a white heat flash blitz’s, feel’n the snap-crackle-pop of all the glitches, rolled on side, with a brutal drag and slide…
Hips cranked down shoulders pinned with a grip on chin…
Gotta a little drool start’n to begin…
Crotch strain as I’m spread out folded back with a bit of a rock…
Flashbacks of the last time I was cuffed by the cops…
Professional but rough, she knows what she’s do’n, made of the right stuff…
Uff… maybe baby I’ve had enough…
But I want her to do it again, it hurts so good like one of them sins…
She winks at me and grins…
I’m on the VIP client list for all the wrong reasons…
Recovery, after a Rock & Roll season…
Sometimes I think she’s a closet S&M specialist…
She handles me with extreme prejudice…
I love and hate my Physiotherapist…
She keeps me in the game…
She always misspells my name…
I’m alive n’ 25’
And survived again …
***
Back in the gym with my crew, more than some years between me and a few. They push me harder, I push them a farther, I’m wear’n more kinetic sports tape, they be given me crap because I have the latest colour “Neon-Grape”, we’re all in push’n the limit until we break.
No glory to claim…
We all be sweat’n the same…
No pain, no gain…
Feel’n a sting with an itch…
Sh*t… I pulled another stich…
It’s not about glory and fame…
Could be an addiction= #N’ da game…
It’s a professional public service, the risk makes a lot a people nervous ...
Could be a sport, at times guilty of cavort…
Hard work mixed with that action, reaction - adrenaline high…
What’s important here is we’re fit to survive in 20-25…
And I’m alive…
***
Boss-man in Brussels for the annual European Union political tussle. Surrounded by guru analyst, power-politics-catalyst, bureaucracies with all the other panellists…
Experts with recommendations from 27 Nations…
He’s lobbying hard to get it right, fight’n for the budget, keep’n it tight. Some of them wana do a team-on-duty exchange, expand’n Union unity and range. Think’n it’s gonna be some kinda fun, create’n some PR bonding, on a training run…
As he grins, with that trademark dimpled chin…
Shake’n his head, pause, with a gaze in abyss…
It goes like this…
‘Umm, maybe, could be… we’ll see…It’s not gonna be easy…. It’s kinda like the wild-wild West, it’s more like if you’re crews can mesh with the rest and there’s no inclusion test’…
There’s a few ask’n ‘how do you keep them rowdies, so they don’t stray and wander?... hmm… No comment, and noth’n to ponder…
Whispers… ‘Psst, he’s got them F*ck’n crazy 1st responders’…
The team and I are just a number, a statistical ratio that’s more efficient than the other(s)…
It started as an experiment… a kinda Test*
Technically we’re not in competition with the rest…
Ya, I’ll say it ‘high risk, slightly outta control, on the edge, dam rights we’re the best’…
I’m cool just being a data point in a risk-de-risk policy game…
Someth’n like…hmm… numerical fame…
It’s better they don’t even know my name…
Keep’n it stealth, calm, cool and sane, the real Southern Frontier Search and Rescue Cowboy game…
And we survive alive in -2thousand & twenty5-…
***
Conflicts on the East of us, refugees seek’n safe haven & justice, robustas- migrant waves from the South, and then we got boozed-up idiots get’n lost, #Bozos, drive’n ships and yachts like weird AI Bots…
But then again, we like it when the action is hot…
Tourist numbers up, better technology, patrol areas expanding in a fluid geography…
Seems a bit less human with a mix of more insanity…
+#Ö%§xüä-><!!! = F’n Profanity*
Down with home the team, we never neglect the humanity…
Give Me 2 & a High 5… Phew = Alive*
***
Ride’n a fine line in a grey zone where sometimes rules don’t apply, and then there’s times when I cause my boss’s blood pressure to rise, there’s limits to an acceptable surprise. A Cartel boss called me on patrol at Sea, on my SAT phone from Tripoli. ‘Hey Yo, Rec-Capt. It wasn’t me! We be respect’n you’re crew, inshallah its true, I never cross you, it was the other guys, please don’t miss-construe’…
Keep’n it real, up- close with an eye on the dark side view…
We all gotta survive in this vast deep blue…
Ride’n the tide of inside information the analyst wish they knew…
Kinda like an un-holy alliance, with no reliance…
Theres no GPS on that and it ain’t rocket science…
Is what it is, can’t be Liv’n in deniance...
Someone’s gotta do it…
Throw’n down, all in, with the playerz ‘n’ the game…
My boss says there’s a few in Brussels think’n I’m out here on the frontier edge of insane…
They turn a blind eye yet crave the info all the same…
We get gifts from people and places I can’t name…
Survive’n-alive-n’-25’n…
***
Damn! They’re at it again, I created them and there’s a price for success with every win. The dreaded inquiry panel and another possible discipline, this time with a wink and a grin…Rumours of a skirmish with one of them big NGO’s politically connected, VIP name directed, night run collision with a rescue watercraft… #Unexpected… Ok, maybe… one of my tuned-up power-Res-Q Girlz threw a left hook… and… it… kinda…connected. We don’t know about any teeth scattered on deck that were collected, besides, that dude should get a clue, touch one of my crew… and… you’re gonna lose a few…
Duh… (?)
Discipline’n a couple fit rescue chic’s when they’re tired, wet, cold and hungry…
I don’t give a sh#t who he’s connected to from what country…
Sometimes there’s those with prestige, positions and podium honour, think’n they can use my crew for political fodder… but… in this case it happened in international water(s)… (maybe)
Privately I told a father, ‘man to man trust me, I’m gonna defend your daughter’…
My rowdy rescue girlz are claim’n victory at sea, leave’n the paperwork and inquiry up to me…
Ahumm… if it helps, I know a Physiotherapist that fix it so he can drink his tea…
The inquiry board smiled with a blush and a hush; the team got off scot-free…
The radar logs tell the tale evidence and reason…
The zig-zag course of indecision, the helm was void of common sense control a seiz’n…
Lie’n to your NGO sponsors out here it’s like commit’n treason…
And I got connections in your sector you don’t wana be see’n…
Everyone arrived…. A little skinned up and bruised A-L-I-V-E (in) Two Thousand and Twenty-Five*…
***
If you be read’n this think’n this guy needs an ego check, a little unhinged and kinda of a wreck. Need’n a de-tune, un-civilized, disciplined-corrections, crazy, over the edge in miss-direction. I ain’t arguing and toss’n you a compliment of good detection...
The team psychologist said the same, a little post trauma deranged, we’re all mixed in with ego’s, bravado, crazies and a bit insane…
The best of the best and highly trained…
Some of us are in physical and emotional pain…
At the end of season in group therapy, PTSD, burnout, let’n frustrations out and shed’n some tears…
Minus -1, we lost one this year…
All the gossip of bravado, arrogance, rowdies and egos caved, now all the pub critics and nay sayers say ‘he was incredibly brave’…
Me be’n the last one hoisted out with a newbe, I felt it as the structure collapsed there was one less soul like me…
None the less undaunted, look in my blues and maybe there’s a glimpse of a little haunted…
Tears…. But I have no fear…
My mission is clear…
I love what I do with passion, no expressions of ashen…
My job is keep’n a crew of grieving souls in a kinda collection, pray’n they don’t get lost and give’n em some direction, risk takers, ego’s, create’n a team resurrection…
It’s a public safety service, not an election…
A kinda professional sport with mercy, passion, focus with no abjection…
Someday you may see a rescuer ‘n’ a zone of milometers & milliseconds ‘n’ a matrix of situational awareness, size’n up risk, on the fly, adapting in uncertain corrections, no fear, go’n all in know’n there’s no perfection…
I got a long list to be thankful for despite my imperfections…
I’m say’n a prayer ‘n’ a zone of reflections…
I don’t see angles above; I see halos and do rescues of love…
Ain’t look’n for pity, no lobbying for approval in a raw rant with a bit of nitty-gritty…
Tuning-up to do it all over again….
Get’n Neon-Grape taped with an ouch and grin…
Throw’n down, game-on, all in…
The question is, how many times can we win?
I arrived here, because I survived…
Alive n’ 25…
- Log in to post comments
Comments
Powerful accounts reported.
Powerful accounts reported. Skilfully composed in this writing Kris.
Shows how seriously you accomplish situations in your life, with an eye for detail to recall.
I could hear you reading to an audience, with listeners transfixed.
Thanks for sharing, it was certainly an eye opener to read about those terrible storms, which sadly seem to be getting worse. Perhaps nature fighting back.
Jenny.
- Log in to post comments
Thx Jenn....
I'm always honored when you stop by for the ride... = be'n a fan of your works and camping out in your garden through your poetry... 
Honestly, I was bit shy about posting this, because the original draft was in a dialect, slang & sometimes I feel that flavor doesn't work here, misunderstood, or maybe its my ghost...(so I de-tuned it a bit) Giving the fact I live & operate in multilingual environment... sometimes I just gotta let it role, after all, its the inspiration & passion sent... I will say, I have to give a compliment to Celt... he writes in his dialect (colloquial) in many of his stories... So... I figured... if he can do it, what the hell, I'll give it try...
.... Sincerely Jenn.... thank you*
- Log in to post comments
Lot to take in, but gives a
Lot to take in, but gives a powerful picture of the danger and dedication and determination to help the endangered and the rescuers, and the difficult decisions in organisation. Rhiannon
- Log in to post comments
;)- xoxox Rhi....
Allot to take in, and thank you for coming along for the ride.... I'm glad you can look through my eyes for a mere few minutes, then it worked... as you used the word "danger"... yes... but I'm not sure if I'm risk junkie or I really like the (D) word... or both 
- Log in to post comments
This is deep, it's a pity we
This is deep, it's a pity we don't have a recordings section, (Maybe something to look at, Eds? ) I'd like to hear it performed.
Brilliant meter and energy. I like that every sylable was important and not just input for the rhyme. Great urban poetry.
- Log in to post comments
Sooz #Urban Poetry*
Nailed It*... Big THX!.... I'm a bit shy with the awesome heavy weight talent here.... Honestly, when I saw your post from an artist like you #Fan... I'm so honored, seriously.... FYI: I-Ponce 1st brought up the concept of go'n over2 Sound Cloud.... I'm work'n my way there... Did a bit of background vocals for a friend of mine.... Now I just gotta Man-Up & be do'n my own Solo... & to be honest, I didn't wana use Urban, poetry, writing, genre-anything.. Allot of pureist here (respect)... Prose seems cover it, I thought freestyle was push'n it a bit........ But then... Sooz shows up & rescues the rescuer... 
... deeply thankful...
- Log in to post comments
I love the energy in this!
I love the energy in this! Have you been to more poetry slams, since your poem for last year? I think your writing teacher would be so proud, if they knew about your writing now. Your love for words, their music, comes loud and clear from every line. You have an interesting plot going on, too. One of your team being assaulted? You in handcuffs? Someone lost at sea, the immediate stress of accidents you attend and the distant decisions on funding that would allow you to continue. I hope the injury you describe having treatment on, is improving, and you keep doing your most important job
- Log in to post comments
Alive n 25, Kris that is a
Alive n 25, Kris that is a good place to be and keeping fit too. That was some achievement keeping that going and with well-crafted lyrics and tempo that plays in your head as you read. Very well done. It would be great to hear you perform it.
Sad you lost one this year. Keep going, with the rescues, the fitness regime, mental and physical and most of all, keep going with the writing.
- Log in to post comments