Feels like I’m floating
Yet… doesn’t feel far enough
I’m not here, seems I’m staying
To think… myself I can bluff
I cannot find a self I know
I’m finally lost
My shadows I can no longer follow
Once only was
I’m desperately… calm
There is a need for a no need
Everything and nothing to want
Yet nothing leaves everything to seek
Do you know me like I don’t
How do I find myself for tomorrow?
Did you know me like I won’t?
That me when only you will follow…
Almost like I’m floating
Who am I to want bluff?
I’m here…not staying
Will I know to be far enough?
……………..
blooms afloat
surfing still waters
gentle on my mind
AP: 3rd place 2025
I am simply trying to stay afloat
In an otherwise sinking land
An escape between past and future
An island of pain
Treaded up
Barefoot in the sand
Grains of memories stuck in the creases
Standing is sore
Walking is sore
On my hands and knees I beg
Relief is all I pray for
The physical and mental torment
Occupying a vessel that doesn’t know how to swim
My head hurts from thinking
My hands hurt from holding on
The sun hasn’t risen in a while now
But the clouds bare a similar resemblance
To the ache that wants to be unearthed
Tears and rain, all in the same
A necessary cleansing so we can grow beyond
Find myself disconnected
From the web
Which underlies my life
Is it humanity misdirected?
Or am I?
This underlies my strife
Afloat
Not drowning
In murky depth
Nor hover
A single wit
The darks below
The glares above
Keep still
Afloat
Night drips into dawn
the sky is afloat,
a gentle sadness
a comforting tenderness.
Raindrops carry both the dark
and the light;
gleams of moon and sun
and dark wings dancing
between the two.
The rain slowly dream falls
as if each liquid pearl
were the first and last,
teardrop
to rest upon the world.
Now the rain and earth
are speaking
a rain language,
surface words form
a speech
that enters
to be received.
The sky is planting
time-seeded moments
that linger longer
in the deep the soft.
All is well, all unspoiled.
Once more
The world is a child again.
he moves with the gold, talks to the rocks
his voice is a river, he’s looking at her;
she flows through the fire, says she is water
her eyelids are sore, from looking at him as they
blink, again; again she and he
are holding back tears as they fall, fall.. fall waterfall
BITE SIZE POEM no26 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Line Gauthier
We left our abode
in old Cowfair
haggled a price
for an old shire mare
Onto the
landlord's canal boat
lock stock and barrel
for a life afloat
farewell to our
Buckingham birthplace &
its meagre living
from old point lace
dawdled slow
up to Cosgrove
taking our meals
. . around a blackened stove
our moveable house
.painted castle& rose
not a life
we would have chose
Eighteen fifties harsh
&
mean
coal cargo
so nothing stays clean
doff your cap touch your forelock
every two mile
at
the gatekeeper's lock
Fresh food scarce
except for fish
perch & roach
a staple dishc
clothes dry
on a washing line strung
out for a timeout
the toddlers young their
number so soon increased & grew
places to sleep
all too few
family life impossibly hard
back we went to a tied cottage
in
Aylesbury's Anchorage yard
Happiness is a state of mind
Resounding in spirit and voice
I am happy and so are you
Starting our journey we rejoice.
The excitement and expectation
Flowing like a river through
Banks now over flowing
In waves of Joy.
Squeals of laughter rock the boat
Contagious smiles now afloat
In a glittering stream
Two happy souls, caught between.
05.10.2020
You stare into the abyss,
And the abyss stares back.
Take a look into my mind,
Through every little crack.
It's dripping from my finger tips,
It's throbbing in my veins.
The wild inside my bones,
Won't stay tied up in your reins.
If I let my poison pour,
Let it gush out of my throat,
I'll flood out your pretty kingdom,
And set myself afloat.
- Pragya Nandi @scarletfruit2004
footnote
remote
dreamboat
afloat
footnote remote daydreams so flimsy
dreamboat afloat bubbles of whimsy
AP: Honorable Mention 2022
Submitted on August 9, 2019 for contest YOUR TURN FOR A TYBURN sponsored by CHARLES MESSINA - RANKED 3RD
The length of days
that stretches ahead
promises me again
a skyey breadth,
a watery and windy
primeval union
of the Earth
and the Sky.
In their dark depths
and heady heights,
there I swim,
there I fly.
Freezing water.
Many hours.
Prayer, hymns, and laughter.
Gray fins begin circling our group.
Day Three There are thirteen of us now.
Twenty-six numb legs stop moving.
Hymn singing stops.
Who will be next? I hold my breath.
Goliath is taken.
Pulled away from the circle.
His girlfriend screams.
Goliath makes no sound. Gives me a sad nod.
I watch in morbid curiousness
As he is pulled under the water hard.
The water fills with vast amount of red liquid.
Frenzied sharks swim in for their taste of the kill.
The rest of us hold our breaths.
The third day of our capsized non-rescue.
The ocean is deep. Eight others had already been taken.
Which is easier – to be taken or to watch those taken?
The sharks swim around us one more time.
We who are left give praise for another hour
Of life, each minute a reminder of how quickly
We are taken. Tears in our eyes. Who will tell our tale?
Set a sail the sea of blue for what
I know not why a cleansing maybe
Of my soul to cross the oceans wide
A Myriad of senses and visions ultrusive
Meaningless yet overpowering to the eye
And I the captain of this illusion of vital
Natural repetition wave after wave
A castaway of my own desire yet free
Cupped by the waters so wide and deep
At times cradling me to a wondrous sleep
Others thrashing my whole being
As if a hell bent force to leave me
Smashed upon a rock body and boat
A helpless lifeless molded heap
And who would know the gulls
First at the scene the crabs ah yes
Scavengers and then the waves
Would wash away the rest
Shake my head uncluttered the mind
This journey is not ready to end
Dolphins surround my frail vessel
As we sail into the sun such
Happy mammals of the blue sea
The dog barks I open my eyes
Someone’s knocking at the door
No more time to dream wake up
Get on with life’s daily chores
AUDIBLE HORRIBLE
hearing paddling away
think silence bouquet
PALETTE TRAGIC
taste creel caught
meals easier bought
EMOTIONAL REVERSAL
warship bombards feelings
cheaper dental drillings
OLFACTORY REFRACTORY
smell setting sail
restroom odors bail
VISUAL PITIFUL
eyesight in lifeboat
memorize your remote
LOGIC FROLIC
mind barge bound
serenity island found
... CayCay
October 19, 2018
(written for contest)
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