In my safe fortress devoid of winter magic delight
my mind virtually explores its reality-wonders’ height…
Thus, with enthralling vicarious experience flight
I thank God* for freedom to venture beyond imagination sprite
…to plunge into coldness-thrill day and night
… to be enthralled awesomely without cough’s fright
charmed by snow’s immaculate sight
… to doze toward serene slumber midst fireplace so bright
along assailing below zero temperature with freezing blight…
Oh, I wish to wake up, settled comfortably alright
awed while vibrantly triumphing against chills’ fight
from dreaming about ice-sledding spree in my prayer-plight.
*1Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
January 12, 2024
4th place, "Winter Magic - 8-12 Lines of Rhyme" Poetry Writing Contest
Sponsored by Tania Kitchin; judged on 1/15/2024
In my residence devoid of winter
my mind virtually explores its reality-wonders
thus, with enthralling vicarious experience
I thank God for freedom to imagine
how it is to doze serenely
toward winter slumber
midst assailing below zero temperature
blanketing the room beyond chills…
Here am I persisting to defy coldness
enveloping season of enchanting enigmas
fueled by prayer place
warmed with divine compassion
heralding faith messages from God
hoisting hope*, insulated with fellowship
fiery against ice-kissed isolation…
around knitted family ties
intensified by gestures, verily kind
as love prevails to blossom
bearing fruits after Winter’s leaflessness.
*Psalm 78:7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.
Balloons, bolix!
A ghostly flight…
A fight for airspace…
So much air…blowhard.
To sail the seas of America’s skies…
Look down upon the stretch of land.
It landed,
on the eyes of the Montanans.
Balloons, buffoons!
A clownish cloud
passing off a Casper-guise.
A surprise visit from Uncle Xi.
Tea cups fragile…weather balloon,
my $@#.
Balloons, BS!
Talk talk talk
of the atmosphere,
holding the rotund idol up there.
He won’t fall from his pedestal
on his own.
Balloons, asail!
Assailing, assaulting,
insulting. Assyria &
Babylon held ear
to the breakdown
of God’s people
elsewhere.
Balloons, bah-humbug!
Best pay heed.
Don’t get bested.
Poke holes in the intentionality.
2/7/2023
Sponsor: Anthony Biaanco
tapestry
of thoughts woven
in the
loneliness of
twilight about her.
the "what if"
regrets
assailing
his mind;
encounter...
went nowhere.
unrevealed,
his true feelings for her;
the...
one that got away.
(yalto)
"yalto" is a form invented by yours truly
lines 1-15: 3,4,2,4,5,3,2,3,2,3,3,5,6,1,5 syllables
Date written: 02/03/2022
So storms the night wind through the vane
Summoning the sounds of howling beasts
Assailing all that stands above and tall
Like chimney tops and stately green pines
Will not reveal the source of crashing down
Until the break of dawn and cloudless sky
They venture forth to survey the havoc done
Sun rising like nothing in the dawn amiss.
At first all seems well to the roving eye
Until closer inspection finds a neighbor’s cat
Hunkered down beneath the lower portico
Having given birth to seven yellow tabbies
Unalarmed by the threats of recent hail
And nursing contentedly at mother’s breasts.
Written April 21, 2021
N/A "All Yours" Contest
Sponsored by Brian Strand
With vernal anticipation,
Awakening each morn,
No longer beset by wintry cares forlorn.
Without whipping winds,
Tender, tentative bird song heard,
Nature’s eternal cycle has stirred.
We shrug off our lethargy,
As dun colored vistas brighten their hues,
A more vivid world doth bemuse.
My dogs excitedly discover spring,
Scents incessantly assailing their noses.
Their epiphanies intense, not alluring as roses!
Comfort of more warmth and light,
Has great power to revive,
I feel so much more alive!
My enforced hibernation done,
I turn my face and aspiration to the Sun.
mrt/3-18-21
Attack of below zero temperature assailing
Blankets the room beyond blustery
Chills of the arctic, cleaving…
Daring to defy dreariness
Enveloping season of enchanting enigmas
Fueled by prayer place while adorned with furred coat, fleecy…
Glistening yuletide trees glare midst lantern glow
Herald helping faith messages from God, hoisting hope*
Insulated with fellowship warmth against ice-kissed isolation…
Jingling bells blend with carol hymns, joyous
Knitted family ties intensified by gestures, verily kind
Love prevails to blossom, bearing fruits after Winter’s** leaflessness.
*Psalm 78:7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.
**Just thinking in my "winterless" situation since I live in the Tropics.
"Double ABC" since the first letters of the first and last words follow the ABC pattern.
December 30, 2020
Edited on December 30, 2022
Pernicious thoughts, perennially play and plague
to dampen, downcast and depress my spirit,
how it takes birth to burst forth and blemish is vague
to my thoughts, a sentry now I am on this culprit;
an enterprise effort it takes to stay vigilant
on how it takes root and goes on to geminate,
while it vitiates my visage and turns me petulant
I fail to grasp and also gripe if this is all innate;
with these assailing thoughts I traverse and cope,
yet like an astral my grit glitters to fight it, in all hope.
13-Nov-2020
Eight Word Challenge 11 Poetry Contest
1. DAMPEN, 2. BLEMISH 3. PERNICIOUS. 4. TRAVERSE 5. SENTRY
6. VISAGE 7. ASTRAL 8. ENTERPRISE
Sponsored by: John Hamilton
Deliberately debating a debilitating disease,
Excruciates and exacerbates existential ease.
Loquaciously lugubrious her lacrimonious wailing,
Instilled in me an ignominy of incongruous assailing.
Galling in its gargantuan, garrulous gainsaying,
Hypocritical hyperbole it goes without saying.
Tormenting me with tales of her tinnitus tintinnabulation,
Forced me to fulminate with ferocity and damnation.
Until, unambiguously, I uttered my interdiction,
Life's too short and your lassitude would test a Saints benediction.
my grey cell has no walls
two windows free my mind
eyes unlock prison doors
leaving me unconfined
steel beds on which I’ve laid
have carried me away
independence is solely mine
each solitary day
solitude does not dilute
dark silence is not wasted
I persevere pursuing
freedom I’ve once tasted
leisurely highways are travelled
while passing recorded hours
I privately pursue
assailing ivory towers
I address the silhouettes
society’s sobriety
metaphysically assessing
maliciousness defiantly
freedom is a state of mind
iron bars cannot confine
oppressors may arrest restrain or even blind
independence is solely mine
i sit alone
westside café
catching my breath
waiting and exhaling
listening to the silence
whirl inside my head
in waves of warm cacophony
in wondrous delightful ways
a swarm of outside sounds
assailing the shell of me
peacefully savoring
how divinely sublime
calm washes over me
luscious as
a warm caress
AP: 3rd place 2020
t'was winter and the lively knights
did wither and quibble long the bow
because they had had frothy troughs
and they were horses as you know
a once and sweeting beast did ponder
the waith admiring the frosty snow
There was a breath thick on her shoulder
assailing her to not be slow
I quite think I'd like knowing
how far along and where this goes
was what the traveler was thinking
while brought along by someone's nose
Daddies like butterflies after a long spring
someones nice and some of them rough
Sometimes there are lots of them
other times there are not quite enough
girls rushing over to meet you
they cant let you see through them
little women wearing only blue
emotions ride thick like their denim
the bear lies beside you
wondering if you feel ok
breathing softly against your ear
but don't worry, its not gay
deep under the earth the sand whispers
smoldering smells that her children
eagerly wait for but it is only for
tomorrow, when the husks will be brought
barely from the dirt in which the tasty
morsels will come piping hot from the desert
oh spit its a snake!
I believe in the Holy Ghost
He’s the Deity’s third Person
Illumining with truth’s utmost
Teaching me thru divine reason.
Midst varied thinkers’ influence
I believe in the Holy Ghost
God’s Spirit of light’s prevalence
Who leads me against evil’s post.
When doubts, fears, woes, angst have me lost
Assailing my soul with queries
I believe in the Holy Ghost
That unravels life’s mysteries.
Though superstitious myths abound
Challenging philosophies’ cost
God’s Word upholds my faith-strength’s ground
I believe in the Holy Ghost*.
Jude 1:20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.
September 18, 2018
1st place, "END OCT 2018..." Poetry Writing Contest
Sponsored by Brian Strand; judged on 10/27/2018.
10th place, "Kundalini" Poetry Writing Premiere Contest
Sponsored by Unseeking Seeker; judged on 7/12/2025
Seething skies like bloodshot eyes,
wailing gales assailing through canyon ~
weeping fits, ember storm cries
bristling tears with random abandon.
East to west, unwanted guests,
downsloping dire breeds with fire
fueling fest of fiery crests
aborning hells of unholy spire.
Santa Ana merciless winds breathing
capricious firebrands kindle tinder teething.
Susan Ashley
December 26, 2017
~ Tenth Place ~
10 Lines, 5 Words: Rhyme - Premiere Contest
Laura Loo - Sponsor
Revelations,
intimating sanctions,
sailing you to make-shifts,
assailing with blank lips-
I rock Hetty,
while she make's a day-list,
I'm rock steady,
but she's having her hanky tins.
We both have a family-
they all have flailing limbs,
why can't we get along on a train we ask?
But soon lose to space ships
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