Behold the bather astride the river,
resplendent in rainbow-dappled nudity
his sense of light and air and wetness
ebbs and flows like his emotions,
colors shift and swirl in response
to the universe of his creativity.
Premiered at The Empatheater, Kenosha, WI – 11/4/1991
ACT 1
A Will of Its Own
Autumn’s Blessing
Lejna Tasha Belle
All the Way Home
Nativity Window
Marley Plays the Bottom Line
Sideman’s Serenade
Someday Train
Existential Nostalgia
ACT 2
Traveling People
Cross the River
Cantina Dream
Keepsake
Once Upon a Future
Gospel Plough
ACT 3
The Harbor at Lorient
Portrait of Sonia
Le Chemin de Fer
Bather Arranging Her Hair
Octavia
It was a hot Sunday afternoon in Vienna, Missouri…
If I’da been a gentleman, I would a turned my back
When I got to the swimmin’ hole today.
Instead, I hid behind a tree and spied as she undressed;
And Lord, the vision took my breath away.
I knew that she was beautiful from watching her at school;
The auburn scholar reading Parson Weems.
But her beneath that cherry tree beside Ben Miller’s pond
Was more than what I pictured in my dreams.
It felt a bit dishonest though, I cannot tell a lie.
I thought my heart would burst right through my chest.
The cute straw hat she wore to church was lying with her clothes,
Her cotton dress, her scarf and all the rest.
When she moved here from Baltimore, I knew she’d bring me luck,
But this reward was more than I deserve.
As she stood pinning up her hair, I practiced what I’d say
If I could only rustle up the nerve.
Tomorrow we’ll be back at school to start the final week
Before the summer frees us from our books.
I know I’ll have to fight the urge to whisper in her ear,
“Hey, I know how a naked goddess looks.”
She undresses like a bather wading through the waning light
Till her darkest fears are splashing in the deep end of the night.
On some ship of dreams those sheets might be her sails,
Not a canvas full of nightmares draped across a bed of nails.
There now, baby, don’t you fret. We’ll just have some fun.
Let me hear my kitten purr. You’re the special one
Tries to focus on the ceiling with its old familiar crack;
Feels the piercing shame transfix her as she lay there on her back.
When she bears that weight, her sense of balance fails
Like that drunkard on his tightrope high above her bed of nails.
Hush now, baby, don’t you cry. Soon we’ll be all done.
Gotta, gotta, hurry, hurry… ring the bell and run.
Maybe someday she’ll grow braver and she’ll stand to offer proof
Of the monster in her closet and the gremlin on the roof,
But until that day, a stronger will prevails
And she’s just his little plaything lying on her bed of nails.
Betty Barbara Bailey borrowed a bright blue bather from from Benny B. Brooks
bathroom bashful Betty wore a bright blue biodegradable bikini for
Benny B. Brooks , who was actually Betty Barbara Bailey ,
a big, beautiful, bodacious, booty-licious boy/girl .
For contest : Tongue Twister
December 29, 2020
.
Kodiak
A name from Alaska
My favorite type of dog
The loyal, fun, furry type
A mixture of talents, a breed
Sensitive and energetic just like me
Never unloved or alone
The sun bather, always outside
A tongue like sandpaper
Growls at strangers when approached
Never attacks
A bark with no bite
Beware of his mighty tongue
It might just get you
By:Domingo Tores
.
Breathless
Mi
with palms damp
and the gnarled mane
as this poet in dark muse
strokes the coiled strans back
revealing tattered cheek and bone
top life’s weathered troddened mask
eye clouded through see to one but have i
lips crusted dried these with kiss to one and
lined cloaked mi wretched the not minds she
bather and disrober a becomes aficionada my
arrange find locks knotty my gentle the with
whisper the ears anxious these in abruptly
"awe all my mi my you missed so have i"
Mi
exhausted
*The second stanza is read; right to left
top to bottom so too, the daring; read as the usual...
the poet "en-depth" will find no..despair
I so hope that anyone reading this long poem
doesn't mind that I used the ( i ) twice here.
The capital (I) kind of deranged the picture.
I will try writing shorter ones.
I hope that I am right; this being "shape"
TY...I am new here
In his wisdom God
Created all creatures with
Deep love and purpose
BEAUTIFUL BIRD
Beautiful bird perched
on tree limb under moon's glow
elegantly dressed
GRAZING HORSES
Clouds rest on tree tops
lumpy feather beds billow
horses graze in snow
Jan. 24, 2007
SILENT BIRD
Proud bird perched so high
silently viewing the world
We await his song
Dec. 23, 2007
I BEHOLD A RAINBOW
Sun and humming birds
mingle while rainbows arch high
drawing eyes skyward
THE BATHER
Tiger baths his wounds
cold water soothes like medicine
he will fight again
October 1, 2007
RUNNING FREE
In him peace abides
Little fellow young and free
God's true gift to me
Dec. 19, 2007
Cynthia
A Poet Who Loves To Sing
lone duck in water
rare moment of solitude
beautiful bather
Tiger baths his wounds
Cold water soothes like medicine
He will fight again
BATHER
She’s naked
Well? – perception naked
Existing with them all
In an obscure, spray-saturated atmosphere
An almost steamy dimension.
The poly-synthetic, strained drip
Along her streaming, rubber thighs
A chemical blue become plunge
Become weird, relaxed intensity
And those shouts!
Lay about
Shout!
Play
Display
you dont remind me of much
you have your mother's victim face
although you hide it behind rhetoric
and false rebellion
I stand on my side of the fence arms crossed
in my apron
a matron from the fifties
and I watch you lie
to the other children
huge unbelieveable stories
believing your lies as you go
one
little boy mistakes your bather for rebellion
and he falls in love
poor lad
now you can use him to do your dirty deeds
and blame him for your failures
of course you'll marry this boy in college
and have a child to bind him to you
oh poor soul
but then again
escape
is the turn of the door knob.
i know that
that ur heart been broken
so many times were it want work again
but trust me i will try....
i'll never let you go
i know that
i told you a number of lies
not once not twice but a million of times
but trust me now just this one last time
just believe in me
its going to be hard to trust me again
i'll hold on ur hand the best i can
thats no lie i'll never let you go
so lets go
lets run away to a palce
so we want be bather
just take my hand
lets runaway
lets look at the star
and be together
i'll fix ur broken wounds
fix it better then papper and glue
all i'll give u is my love
and everything elses will be better
so lets runaway and be together
lets fix our broken wounds
grab my hand and let runaway together.....
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.