One old man slouched down with his worn bent-brimmed hat
Wrinkled face covered, asleep in reverie
Comfortable in his enclosed habitat
Across his boney chest, hands so leathery
Body now bone, shriveled, which once stored-up fat
In his daydreams and REM dreams a treasury
Memories of those youthful accomplishments
Carry him on to future's astonishments
Date: 9/23/2022
Contest: Ottava Rima
Sponsor: L. Milton Hankins
Checked with syllablecounter.net
Checked with Grammar Checker on soup
The Finest Destinations
Open the picture album now.
Clasped in fake gold with plastic ridges,
It is stunningly old, and yellowing;
An odorous time machine,
Filled with ancient heartbeats,
Frozen in the unstoppable hour,
Like grave stones in the snow.
Look at page one, leaning there,
The sixteen year old Mexican girl,
With the tanned, inward turning legs.
She dances with bare feet in the darkness.
She slides along the cool floor in the suave shadows.
I remember her ripening voice from decades ago,
Whispering muted words of tentative devotion,
Holding a rosebud in the unreal garden, as
Searching fingers found the finest destinations,
The incredible perfumed places,
Sealed in wax,
Scrolled as with papyrus,
Our secret intimacies finding ballast,
In repeated late night groans, with
Heaving spectacular ingestions,
Before an insatiable eating fire,
Our gaping mouths engorged,
With mad tongues of lapping astonishments.
Close the picture album now.
Haven’t you had enough?
Like drums, guitars, keyboards and pianos
They run on a string of notes.
That reaches the limits of unlocking astonishments…
The sound sifts to obtain dead notes
And you are left in an incurable feeling,
Until its destruction.
By ignorance the notes will never leave your circle
it's not at our opt to stay
And
Live this life,
Poverty offered
A land,
We breath trembling
Our bodies,
Hearing gunshots,
Fleeing,
Screaming
Stepped With knife,
Hollering for help,
Honestly it gets us
Filled with worries
Trailed blood indicating
Wrecked,
I see no breathing
Nor trying,
It seem Departed.
Sobbing when she have been
Forced into it,
Her feminine spoilt by pirates
While she acts delinquently for rescue,
Arching left ensue
A many desired explained
By entertainments,
Spending on eyes attired
By compliments,
Repined avail filled
Inferiors astonishments.
Hood life gone us astray,
Good life come approach our way
...inspired by 'A Soldier of the Great War'
by Mark Helprin
The old man stumbles, the young man
swaggers with assurance.
Stars of grace and suns of perfect
promise point to journeys yet uncharted
on their pathways to fulfillment.
The old man dreams of childhood,
cherished memories and golden opportunities.
The young man yearns for sexual expression.
Companions, self-possessed, growing
in respect for their astonishments and fears.
The old man a philosopher,
a master of life's unpredictabilities;
the young man just a neophyte,
the world at his behest.
Together, yet alone, storied travelers
with different versions of the universe.
...inspired by 'A Soldier of the Great War'
by Mark Helprin
The old man stumbles, the young man
swaggers with assurance.
Stars of grace and suns of perfect
promise point to journeys yet uncharted
on their pathways to fulfillment.
The old man dreams of childhood,
cherished memories and golden opportunities.
The young man yearns for sexual expression.
Companions, self-possessed, growing
in respect for their astonishments and fears.
The old man a philosopher,
a master of life's unpredictabilities;
the young man just a neophyte,
the world at his behest.
Together, yet alone, storied travelers
with different versions of the universe.
Today is your birthday,
On this special day,
i wish you all the very best,
all the happiness you can ever have
and may you be blessed plentifully,
May life's brightest joys brighten your path?
and may each day's journey bring you closer to your visions!
I hope you have a delightful day,
and that the year ahead is occupied with much love,
many wonderful astonishments,
and gives you lasting memoirs,
that you will cherish in all the days ahead.
I hope that you will have a truly spectacular
and jubilant day with family and friends.
May your birthday be filled with the warmth of sunlight?
the cheerfulness of smiles,
jingles of amusement,
the sensation of love
and the sharing of good cheer.
Live your life with arms wide open,
Today is where your book begins,
The rest is still unwritten.
The old man stumbles,
the young man swaggers with assurance;
stars of grace and suns of perfect
promise point to journeys yet uncharted
on their pathways to fulfillment.
The old man dreams of childhood,
cherished memories and golden opportunities.
The young man yearns for sexual expression.
Companions, self-possessed, growing
in respect for their astonishments and fears;
the old man a philosopher,
a master of life's unpredictabilities,
the young man just a neophyte,
the world at his behest.
Together, yet alone, storied travellers
with different versions of the universe.
...inspired by 'A Soldier of the Great War'
by Mark Helprin
The old man stumbles, the young man
swaggers with assurance.
Stars of grace and suns of perfect
promise point to journeys yet uncharted
on their pathways to fulfillment.
The old man dreams of childhood,
cherished memories and golden opportunities.
The young man longs for sexual expression!
Companions, self-possessed, growing
in respect for their astonishments and fears.
The old man a philosopher,
a master of life's unpredictabilities;
the young man just a neophyte,
the world at his behest.
Together, yet alone, storied travelers
with different versions of the universe.
...inspired by 'A Soldier of the Great War'
by Mark Helprin
The old man stumbles, the young man
swaggers with assurance.
Stars of grace and suns of perfect
promise point to journeys yet uncharted
on their pathways to fulfillment.
The old man dreams of childhood,
cherished memories and golden opportunities.
The young man yearns for sexual expression.
Companions, self-possessed, growing
in respect for their astonishments and fears.
The old man a philosopher,
a master of life's unpredictabilities;
the young man just a neophyte,
the world at his behest.
Together, yet alone, storied travelers
with different versions of the universe.
...inspired by 'A Soldier of the Great War'
by Mark Helprin
The old man stumbles,
the young man swaggers with assurance.
Stars of grace and suns of perfect
promise point to journeys yet uncharted
on their pathways to fulfillment.
The old man dreams of childhood,
cherished memories and proven opportunities.
The young man yearns for sexual expression.
Companions, self-possessed, grow
in respect for their astonishments and fears.
The old man a philosopher,
a master of life's unpredictabilities;
the young man just a neophyte,
the world at his behest.
Together, yet alone, storied travelers
with different versions of the universe.
...inspired by 'A Soldier of the Great War'
by Mark Helprin
The old man stumbles, the young man
swaggers with assurance.
Stars of grace and suns of perfect
promise point to journeys yet uncharted
on their pathways to fulfillment.
The old man dreams of childhood,
cherished memories and golden opportunities.
The young man yearns for sexual expression.
Companions, self-possessed, growing
in respect for their astonishments and fears.
The old man a philosopher,
a master of life's unpredictabilities;
the young man just a neophyte,
the world at his behest.
Together, yet alone, storied travelers
with different versions of the universe.
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