CALM
When all the world seemed calm
The starlight met the dew
Birds chirps, did compete for tweets.
but sounded cheerfully sweet.
Cars moving slowly TO and FRO
Not much hustle in human bustle.
Not much chaos in the dawn.
Mommy would be cooking breakfast;
Children stretched, pondered, and yawn.
Eggs were fresh, and food was good.
Water with minerals, clean and pure.
All the world seemed calm back then...
I guess 1959-Was the calm before the storm.
1949 is the year after I was born,
Music took a leap of faith,
and blues became my poem.
Things still followed natural order,
Had not yet fully fell apart.
Then chaos interrupted peace-
We heard words like” Iron-Curtain” ...
So things were calm no more...Unstable and Uncertain.
The air was clean no more-- Bedtime stories, read no more
Air raids became our theme;
Children screamed; Knelt in darkened corners,
Clenched teeth, until the game was done.
Closed eyes, gave sighs, knees tucked between our thighs
We used folded arms to protect our heads-
That’s how we were prepared.
Waking up to induced nightmares;
Of the warmongers shrilly call.
Living among the living -dead.
“No more calm at all” ...
Copyright © Vicki Acquah | Year Posted 2016
Villanelle – Husband yet She Knew Him Not
Husband yet she knew him not
Life was just a living hell
Their wedding vows he had forgot
He loved a little, she loved a lot
His heart was just an empty shell
Husband yet she knew him not
He did not take rejection well
The physical abuse he would not stop
Their wedding vows he had forgot
No bed for him, he got the cot
Divorce attorneys she did tell
Husband yet she knew him not
Peeved abuser began to plot
Although his ruthless efforts failed
Their wedding vows he had forgot
Life with him she tried to blot
He went to jail, no chance of bail
Husband yet she knew him not
Their wedding vows he had forgot
Copyright © Valerie Staton | Year Posted 2014
As I walk the beach
a seagull
a lone sentinel,
announces my coming.
His shrill cry beckoning,
his comrades to fly.
When I pass,
they will return
as though I'd never passed
that way before.
Covering my tracks with their
thousand little feet.
And again that lone sentinel,
Posted to guard against
intruders.
Copyright © Tucker Carwile Jr | Year Posted 2012
they say age is just a number.
it was-but now, it's not.
it has become, an adversary.
something to be avoided-at all cost.
7, 8, 9, 10---these were friends i looked forward to meeting. later-
18, 19, 20, 21, these were goals, i looked forward to, accomplishing. then-
27, 28, 29, 30-these were achievements i enjoyed, accomplishing.
-now, there's 40. looming, smirking, menacing.
arms crossed-fearful and stern just above the horizon.
40-The Great Divide.
YOuth-a distant memory, old age beckoning.
WHoever said age is just a number,
had not, yet-met-40.
Copyright © Trevor Houchen | Year Posted 2005
Thunderheads
Written: by Tom Wright
O, boisterous clouds,
Why do you pout on high?
With friction so among you,
Will lightening too,
Not soon cross the sky?
In bumping heads,
You cause the thunders burst
Then in your sorrow weep
And once again your tears,
Quench earth's thirst.
I stand alone surveying aloft,
Your strength and might.
But then like curtains,
You're parting once again,
For God's sunlight.
Seeing a rainbow hanging,
In a distant portion of your sky.
I need not ask the question,
Where do you go
When not in sight,. or why?
Copyright © Tom Wright | Year Posted 2008
Previous training
Had me mopping
Croutons in the foreground.
I'd always been
Under or back
And loaded with brushes.
Now my "project-defined"
Had purposely left
My "effects-bank"
With no filename.
Since I to
Had nine options
I selected them all.
It gave me the jiffies
In no time at all.
The series selected
Underscored what was
A housed initial setup.
Mirroring errors
Raised my buttons.
So I reverted for
Your convenience
To edit mode
And performed timed
And highlighted
Entries of change.
Copyright © Thresha Reese | Year Posted 2017
Love will not be bridled
Be it by institution or promise
Takes leave when it so desires
Neither will it ever be bribed
Be it by sweet nothings or offers
takes to the wind if it so wishes
Love will swiftly sweep u off your feet
up to the peak of intoxicating indulgence
flip and just as swiftly plunge you
into the deepest depths of torturous anguish
Love is not for the fragile
Humour it at your heart's peril
tis but short lived bliss
that soon enough will perish
Copyright © Stafish Olor | Year Posted 2020
When they break in.
Weave me back together
Love threaded spindle heart;
Needle tongue
Stringing me up like puppeteers;
Keeping these pieces of my heart together.
Copyright © Skaidiv Morjin | Year Posted 2020
i.
some days I am more
wolf than woman
and it’s hard to hide my fangs.
I’ll hiss and snarl and spit the blood
of those who trespass against my land.
ii.
some days I am more
wolf than woman
and it’s not that hard to understand.
I cannot be tamed or caged or chained,
I am the alpha of the pack.
iii.
some days I am more
wolf than woman
and there is no strength I lack,
but hiding and camouflaging
with the sheep
does not make my fur more black.
iv.
most days I am more
wolf than woman,
and you’ll find me bathe
underneath the moonlight.
in the slightest of mannerisms
you’ll discover, it’s not that
easy for me to hide.
hunting and guarding and marking
until the weary day turns to night.
in the way, that I tread the land
these claws covered by a pretty coat
and smiling- hah, no that’s the
predator baring her fangs to show you
how it’ll dig into your throat.
more wolf than woman | shevaun stonem
Copyright © Shevaun Stonem | Year Posted 2020
Let me touch
your furrowed brow,
etched deep the painful trace.
Apply the balm of peacefulness,
raw memories erase.
Let me warm
the chill felt now
within your troubled soul.
With soft caress and lover's kiss,
retrieve the fire she stole.
Let me mesh
my heart with yours,
unearthing treasures rare.
Release the turmoil deep within,
and let me linger there.
Copyright © Sherry Bradley | Year Posted 2020
What could I say that you don't already know
One last word to share with you before you have to go
After 9 years of being loved and loving everyday
Was there really anything at all that we have left to say
I loved you every second, every moment since we met
You had the strongest sweetest soul I've come to know here yet
I think my greatest comfort since we met until you passed
Is I know I spent my time with you as if it were my last
It really didn't shock me that you didn't stay so long
The angel wings you flew in on have always fluttered strong
It's funny when I think of all the things I did, and see
If I was here to care for you or you to care for me?
And so it's time to say farewell I'll do the best I can
Until we're reunited my soft, sweet, bossy little man!
Copyright © SCOTT HARRIS | Year Posted 2014
The life of a small
Woody starts with the work
Can't tell what to be done
But feelings started question
Why they are inhuman
Instead of their personality
Being a human
Denying the reality
To show their status
They are doing
They not
They hurting the green park
And giving a clot
But where had to stand
They sitting like dumb
Seeing th circus
Laughing like a dumb
Let's play
Let it go
They all time say
We are human
They are prey
They are prey
They are prey
Copyright © Samrat Arora | Year Posted 2021
Heaven's blustery winds
are under her sheets,
over the curvature, an arc
ripening our bodies moist,
grazing her trim bush,
upon my long brush,
and plum
is her berry.
Copyright © Sammy Shaq | Year Posted 2018
Time, what is time? Relentless and an unstoppable force
The passage of time, how is it measured?
An hourglass, A glass that measures hours
Particles of sand pours down
Adding on and not subtracting
Multiplying and not dividing
A continuous stream of motion
Accumulating
Counting
Day by day
Minute by minute
Time flies
I caught it, in my hourglass
I grasp the hands of time tightly
All written in a clear record
And held under a death-defying grip
That remains and is never unleashed
Hearing the sand slither down
Second come; second goes
Where does it go? I do not know
Maybe, time travelers know, ask them
Look for them at the portal’s entrance
Traveling through the sands of time
The same time which is encapsulated
Alas, within my hourglass undoubtedly preserved within
Copyright © Rukhsana Afridi | Year Posted 2020
This cute little creature trundles along,
He cannot speak, nor sing a song,
He cannot run, for love nor dime,
Nor decipher day from the nighttime.
To labor the point, he can barely see,
He only wishes to be free.
He asks no money, nor food or drink,
For he cannot like us think.
A worm or two is all he seeks,
He’ll forage alone, he’ll forage for weeks,
And yet we poke him, just for fun,
Laugh and joke once the deed is done.
His spikes intrigue, we cannot help,
The sad thing is he cannot yelp.
He cannot cross the road in time,
For we see the evidence of our crime.
What has he done? He does not deserve,
This precious creature, we must preserve.
He cannot ask to let him be,
But if not, the hedgehog, we may not see!
Copyright © Ronald D Thompson | Year Posted 2019
A change in cycle:
Trees of carpinus caroliniana, carya cordiformis,
cypress, cedar, chestnut, and cottonwood;
hawthorn, hazel, hickory, honeysuckle
Squirrels stores many stolen cherished chestnuts
Warriors wrinkled aged leaves are down;
reddish brown leaves are for the earth's fertile future
Arbor climate of coffee, caramel, cinnamon
leaves colors: rustic reds, browns, yellows, almond
of a visual, mild weather, fine, tepid, brisk autumn
Trees are in north and south earth parameters
season comes with many of preening trees,
picturesque, pretty paintings are autumn arbors
Listen to leaves crunching and cool winds blowing,
fine harvests of corns, pumpkins, apples, peaches
Oktoberfest and then November Thanksgivings
Autumn arbors ambiance artworks natural,
nature's alabaster almanac album photos,
portraits of earth recycling to a beautiful renewing
Copyright © Ronald A. Williams | Year Posted 2020
And Lo! The brothers, Life, be cleft in twain;
One Spirit, Earth the other, paired alive,
Yet sep’rate these eternal orphans reign;
Fraternal cries in blackening darkness dive.
The brother, Spirit, strains his ear to hear,
If only but a whisper brought to him;
Yet falling in despair hears nothing near
to clear from fear his lips of trembling rim.
But then a “human” vision he did think;
Yes, beings bred to bridge the gap we’ll seed.
We’ll talk to them, the Earth and I, like ink,
Upon the parchment of their mind we’ll read.
So Spirit blew two souls down to the land,
His brother made them casings out of sand.
Copyright © Robert Allen | Year Posted 2019
Nature's Gift
High above the mighty and tall oaks,
the clouds often dance all day
The sun hides above Nature's cloak
as mere mortals work and play
Down below a forest deep in snow
wild critters scurry in frenzy need
Gathering food with offspring in tow
first warm day to play and feed
Soon comes a pouring cold , hard rain
fruits from the dancing clouds above
Nature does it's duty timely yet again
as the world yields it's beauty and love!
Robert L. 05-17-2014
Pouring , hard rain here today.
As I ponder the peacefulness of my favorite spot in the
deep woods and the critters I no longer seek to slay!
Copyright © Robert Lindley | Year Posted 2014