Astir Poems | Examples

Astir

Iridescent crow wings
scatter ice particles, patches of air clatter.

Grackle claws engrave the frozen creek,
small owls emerge from blanching shadows,
fieldmice burrow into snow drifts.

A small stir in the flappable; facets
dazzle a dazed daylight.

A newly unearthed sky pauses to blink
life stutters, shimmers back
twice as bright.

Sleepless

Sleepless

Dogs are howling.
Cats are yowling.
Stomach's growling.
Just want a nap.

Mowers mow.
Blowers blow.
Planes are low.
Please, a bit of kip.

A fly astir .
An AC's whirr.
Roaring roadster.
Just forty winks.

Telly's off.
Party's over.
Almost aslee...
Have to pee.

-Grim

When You Are Old

My love is silent as I slumber on,
A day rises beyond my window frame,
And in my fragile body, I grow lame,
But I found a mirror all decked and don.

What odds that a looking-glass cause, Alice,
Placed outdoors I can see a younger me,
Under the sun, I am basking carefree,
Passing familiars whom I cherish.

A reddish sun drawing a purple glow,
A bedroom grows darker a bit astir,
Routines of a day, now a slumberer,
As a mirror stood still in the shadow.

Shuffling Through

Inspired by the Onomatopoeia Contest (2024), sponsored by Emile Pinet.

Mid-day invaded my spirits with blah. 
I sauntered the path to the coffee shop
and heard my friends blabbing on endlessly,
astir with the recent barista flop.

I swallowed a mouthful of latte,
gagged and gargled with an unwanted flush
of caramel nut crème tickling my throat.
It made my gustatory senses gush.

After much gurgling, I gulped and groaned,
spilling the foamy froth with a loud plop.
My spirits sizzled and snapped 
with the luscious last loud drop.

Having quenched my fraudulent thirst 
I selfishly, yet successfully, bashed
the doleful doldrums that attended me.
I hiccupped along home and crashed.

Sea Glass

The Sea Glass Fifth Aquarius,
a glass menagerie,
as their bios serenade us,
sea views anemone.

I swarm betwixt a Sea of Glass,
a can of worms opened,
we dove had fluttered peace a chance,
debate and hook defend.

Dolphins parlayed high nibs false skies,
the Sea Glass crample them,
their dimpled snout closer to eyes,
in blues abyss, they swam.

Little shop around four corners,
the which is of Sea Glass,
Stew astir perpendiculars,
Suze, Miche, Cher, picturesque.

Sea Glass, Scottish accents; you rain,
ode Yellow River,
shove all our rights tad off the lane,
bowl poetry Super.

It's Open Season

Mysterious displacement of matters where
Spring forgets like fumbling fingers in blossoms
arresting visions lingering colossal
                         ~jewels rule pastimes

Then Summer entertains those withering loss
call a drummer accost this way in breaths pools
beached conch shells malingering orange descends
                         ~warms young beater's suite

A lifting Fall of memories beset heaps
across retiring boughs release the neglect
obliged astir spiced slumbers of golden birds
                         ~chop resounds a weigh

Jack Frost recalled when Winter stalled -- cold resolve
blue glacier iceberg Irish temperature
pleased those icy treats cool in rime or freeze in
                         ~luck pulls north-south poles.

Spring Winning Bloom

.

       here comes her crowning
    astir whilst mine defends hern
             az pinkest tulip

Song of the Wind

On waves I swept from clouds of grey
to make once tranquil bliss astir -
together, we would join the fray -
a tumult tango beckoned her.

Fandango spin upon the seas
where tempests tease a tropic storm.
What once was born a peaceful breeze
now grows in yield - now comes the swarm.

On every churning white-capped wave,
my breath in howling echoes dwell,
then dance ashore and misbehave
where Nature's fates forebode, foretell...

Unadorned

"For loveliness needs not the foreign aid of ornament, but is when unadorned, adorned the most" 
                     - James Thomson

She stood there unadorned, yet he loved her
For she left his simple heart all astir
Complicated she was, he understood
Their pairing made in heaven, it was good
Life sometimes works in miraculous ways
It brought them together, still does amaze
Unadorned before, now she's his soul queen
He feels like a king with a crown unseen
Joined forever by a bond that can't break
She is his to adorn, protect and take.

Eager Bard Imbued

Lemon tinted phase
gilded skyline blown
by ethereal fused mist 
eager bard imbued 
opal dream flotilla  
beyond tarnish while
flash point chariots 
of gleam-well canvass
astir or astern perforce 
taunt a hued vase 
porcelain image fest
for stoic earthbound 
soul’s cry parched 
stoic migrant famish 
sapphire plume ray
bounty veridical
pink chalk sketch
granule blush pots
pearl beam spur 
to jumpy pilgrim 
white elephant garb
drifter’s lull prone 
metre of skewed 
and barren glib
dull tossed aside 
rambles and brambles 
from cerebral quartz
grey quirky quill 
nose twitch petrichor
glacé smelt rain   
lava veined fillip 
fervent  fetal floe
ignited indigo inkling 
as noonday nuanced
glance en dash
away from orange 
peel cloud skies 
toward spring rush
urban junction fare
as founding cue
for zeitgeist driven 
western world eden

the empty teacup

son streams yesterdays
lady of those years keeps nigh~
clinking fetch astir

son owns two faint eyes
lady kept years eyes her son~
silver teaspoon rests

son eyes lady's room
stopped ~ curio stand lights up
son lost eyes to stand

silver teaspoon stirs
son holds Prince Albert's teacup~
soul sips into tears

Sing a Song of Sixpence

"This is believed to be a version that I'd furthered a bit more," ... by Poet

Sing a song of gone-byes,
A pocket golden watch.
Four and twenty hours
Staked as top-notch.

When the time had entered,
The Cuckoo Clock did sing.
Wasn't that a dandyish,
As sunset be the king.

The king in his grandfather clock,
Tick tocking away.
The queen mooning the dark hour,
Waxes and wanes at bay.

The stars are in the heavens,
Hang amongst the clouds,
Then dawn came up and did astir,
Awaken sun aroused.

ORIGINAL

Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing.
Wasn't that a dainty (or dandy) dish
To set before the king?

The king was in his counting house,
Counting out his money.
The queen was in the parlour,
Eating bread and honey.

The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird
And pecked off her nose.

Shizumanu Taiyo

A moonlight silhouette ... of a sleeping mountain.
A living forest ... tall trees in fullness.
Underbrush heavy laden ... a patchwork of paths.
The moon is hiding ... the stars are hiding.
The night air stays cold ... light touches of frost.
All creatures are in stillness.
Unnatural noise awakes ... mountain forest creatures flee.
Darkness astir to bright light.
Chaos tangles a forest ... tall trees and brush full of pain.
Heard by dazed small life below.
Burning light shows the horror.
Moaning, groaning, crying screams ... most are unable to move.
Few hanging in trees ... subtle movements here and there.
Bodies of living and dead ... scattering midst the debris.
Time is of no use.
Many cling to life ... many more to hope.
Desperate prayers for help.
Cold, the enemy of life ... reckoning befalls.
Heartfelt prayers for loved ones.
Devout ancestral prayers.
Many sleeping peacefully ... prayers swept to memories.
Opens a book to scriptures.
A time of Oneness.
Descendants join ancestors.
In a place far, far, away.
Five hundred twenty ... are joined with their ancient past.
The realm of a Dynasty.
Four holds on to life.
Fate chooses for you.

Christmas Alone

Buttered pancakes, hot cocoa, cinnamon sticks,
Knitted neck shawls, all buttoned up jackets, "Phew,"
Some are ice skating, or skiing, and sledding,
                    ~~"Ohh Little...," is sung,
Fabric weaves hills of ivory silk frosting,
Spilling streams of cream, pouring milk all astir,
Grizzlies, snoring, un-grizzled hibernal eve,
                    ~~day's sun soon freezes,
Night has fallen ... sleep for some while others aren't,
Stars found a place for dangling nighttime twinkles,
Classic moon balm tryst desires, tarries sunrise,
                    ~~hourglass sands sun soon.

Songs of Nature COS No 15: AABB

Goes a white doe, faint glimpse a wondering.
Rare diaphanous prismatic heartstring,
astir, the bestilled buds wake an ocean.
Nascent feels Aurora's palm in motion,
iridescence and redolence yon oaths,
divine dulcet elysian her outgrowths.
Moon/Star burrowing framing an archway,
You can kill fish, not stars, said Hemingway.
Golden sets of surfs delve a saffron sky,
amber rays herald as a beach comply.
Sands surrendered shoeless soles schlep trail
gild glitters flocked doves sprung free summer's veil.
A myriad of countenance submit
a sun encounters a probing of it.

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