Beat Back Poems

the devil vs my heart

The devil couldn't reach me 
He instead put this heart in my chest 
This heart the beats for all the wrong people 
A heart that beats too loudly 
For the people whose hearts don't beat back 
A heart that feels too much 
And never learns 
This heart that yearns for love 
That doesn't understand when it's not love…
It cares for the hands that push it away 
It aches for the voices, that will never call back,
The devil couldn't reach me 
But at some point he learned he didn't have to 
With a heart like this 
It would destroy itself tearing it apart piece by piece 
And call it love

Whatever Happened To Breakfast

Whatever happened to breakfast, lamented French Toast
    People love me, gushing with syrup, I used to boast
  But now my brand is flat as a pancake
                      ~ as popular as a post-Halloween ghost

  A dozen eggs beat back tears as they sat in a box
    while patrons flocked toward the cream cheese and lox
  Once a staple of a sound start to the day
                       ~ now bagels and doughnuts hold sway

  There there's whole milk and butter
    lovingly culled from Betsy's best utter
  Given way to that nebbish 'skim milk' and oily margarine
                       ~ at their pale appearance I just shudder

  But at least I pack my children a solid lunch ~
    Peanut butter sandwich, corn chips, and twinkies to munch

Facts of Life

The dayz beat back & fourth with the good & the bad rocking a lullaby to our daily agendas. Serenading the arrival of our deaths & the funeral that's sure to come for all. I laugh yesterday, cried last night, played today, bracing for the joys & pains of tomorrow. The good out weigh the bad. The bad don't out weigh the good. The bond with truth is utilizing it. Putting desire to practice; clarity follows. The shadows of humanity pains don't last forever. Don't kill the joy of the times we fun and are enjoying true happiness. Sounds of the arrival of a new day stir the senses. Dark blue skies turn into light blue skies. Oppurtunity for new experiences are urshered in with the morning dew. The dayz continue of our triumhps, faults, & the slums of our falls; The treasures, waiste, and disasters of good, bad, tragic times. Inspiring determination to pursue our personal desires. It's a beautiful thing to view the timeline and smile as our wiser selves.
After the fact....

                                              Enjoy!!!!

The Countdown

At ten, I have composure to maintain
At nine, I know the chance is all but mine
At eight, I beat back fears and thoughts of a one-eighty
At seven, I am at sixes and sevens
At six, I draw my know-how and pull all of my tricks
At five, it is lose or win, die or survive
At four, all my strength is brought to the fore
At three, I am careful and carefree
At two, I am at point of no return but follow through
At one, it was easier said now it’s done
At zero, I am either a trier or a hero

The Toast

It doesn’t matter if things are going the way you want them;
get used to appraise the greatness of small things.
Stop pause, and raise your glass to honor this very moment.
for:

All that for which you bruised your hands and wearied your limbs,
For which you beat back the beast inside you,
For which you defied a mocking world.
For all that can be cherished from this world,
and all that makes life worth living.

I Am But a Mortal Craving Your Existence

You are a bright fallen star from the mesmerizing sight up above,
You make my tender heart pump pure blood of joy with just a minor glance,
If only you would grant me the blissful privilege to call you my love,
To my painful despair your angelic nose is pointed to the sky and you look down upon me,
If only given the honour to acknowledge my existence that craves your mystical romance,
But because of my economic status and laughable looks me, you shall never see,
As more than a dirty petty jester who could never compare to your immense power,
I am foolish to ever have thought I stood a pleading chance,
To you your majesty I will forever bow down and cower,
Until I feel your heart beat back then I shall manoeuvre into my sprinting stance.

June 12, 2018

Rhyme Time 4- 10 Lines Poetry Contest
Sponsored by:  Laura Loo 

3rd Place

I Will Fear No Red Sky

I hear the ocean calling me to fill my sails for I have lingered too long at sea, 

There is the island I dream of, where my love awaits for life calls to me to quicken my pace,
 
As I fight back the winds that have kept me from the warmth of your cove I will fear no red sky,

you are the beacon that guides me, that leads me for I yearn to anchor my heart on the shores of your soul,    
 
I would chafe the sands of time until I've reached your berth,

I will bear off on longer but beat back the wind as I hunger for your touch,

you are the fortune I seek and I will tack from dusk till dawn to reach the shores of your love once again.

Butterfly Haiku

Butterfly Haiku



Much fun I would have

If I were a butterfly

On nice haiku tree.



Sure seems so little

Was born with beautiful wings

To attract a mate.



Had found a flower

Which was pretty as can be;

Like no other one.



Days start and are done

And butterfly that I love

Went to sleep in bed.



Wings beat back and forth

As he flies from here to there

With no fear or care.



One day he did die;

My beautiful butterfly;

Life had reached an end.



James Thomas Horn, Retired Veteran

Echoes of a Victims Plea

Echoes of A Victims Plea

The fires burn on; the polemics fuelled
More crocodile tears from the politicians who've duelled
To capture the lens of the Press.

But our loved ones cry that simple tear
For those of us whom they loved so dear
.........Immortalised (they) nonetheless!!!

Now the cruel sea with arrogance
Beat back attempts by those who chance
Their lives to bring us back.

But just leave us here, within our grave
We're not all strong, all bold, all brave;
We're souls - it's just life we lack.
				15 July 1988

I Know Not Freedom

My soul cries out
For freedom lost, for songs silenced by doubt
In the shadows of man's fair wisdom's grip
My voice fades, unable to let it rip

I have no freedom! 
My words wither and dreams grow tense
In cloistered moments, lips parched and dry
Longing for release, a desperate cry

I call upon God, to cleanse the pain within
I pray in the darkness, hoping to begin
A new chapter, a fresh start, to cut the knot
But still, freedom remains a distant spot

I tried purifying my eyes with relic poems of old
Stretching the soul, searching for the untold
Yet finding nothing of the little boy I once known
Lost in a world where truth is overthrown

Singing soullessly, a song of despair
Trying to beat back the pain, to repair
But hope dries up, like tribal drums long gone
Leaving me to mourn, to carry on

I have no freedom! The words echo loud
In an empty shroud
Yearning for release, for a chance to be
Free from the chains of man's fair decree

Nightmare, Translation of Paul Verlaine's Cauchemar

Nightmare, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s Cauchemar

(Translation of Paul Verlaine’s quintilla : « Cauchemar ». As usual, I have tried to stick to the original’s stanzaic format and rhyme scheme. T. Wignesan)

In my unfurling dream I saw it happen
- The way the hurricane lashes the strand –
A two-edged sword whirling in one hand
An hourglass in the other 
This knight rider

Come coursing through Germany
Down through towns and the open country
And from the river up mountain free,
And from forests to valley lone
This stallion

Ebony black and red as flame
Sans bridle, nor bit, nor rein.
Ne’er a hup ! nor crop, constrain 
In the midst of deafening railing
Unfailing ! Unfailing !

Long plume adorning a huge felt hat
Kept in shade his eye which up it lit
And then it dimmed. Such as in the mist
Explodes and dies this blue flash clear
The weapon fire

As when the white-tailed eagle’s wing
As might by a sudden storm sting
The air streaked with snowing,
His fur coat out-raised distend
Beat back the wind,

And disclosed with an air : glory be
A torso sombre and of ivory,
While in the black night free
Through strident neighing : dazzling beneath
Thirty-two teeth.

© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2013

Time's Secret

The day was falling,
enacting all its own regret 
with light, like washed-out technicolor.
One glance affirmed:
the rain would soon begin. 
Thunderheads played God, 
recruiting legions higher still;
I saw the sand provoked 
and furious upon the air.

I saw the lake retreat before the storm,
presuming self-effacement...
knew its delerium beyond, 
knew the restless surface 
hid its grave intent
and made its secrets even less accessible.

But there they were,
churning far offshore, 
where relics of a war might gently rock
and dream their glory days, 
then slipping down to rest...
I saw my death beat back its coverlet, 
and mocking, seek an alien breath.
Time hovered.  Secrets die ungraciously.
As so, might I.

But then the overflowing womb
that cast its tempest to the land and air
brought birth full circle in retreat--
Vivos...Mortuos
It was complete.
              ~

Fluttering Voids

My hands are shaking, not so much trembling.
I don't believe I have anything to tremble for, as of this moment.
They beat back and forth in a schizoid pattern,
Placed in a spacious space in time.

The Ocean

I need the ocean to protect me,
                            with its pounding surf.
                         Able to beat back,
                             my strongest fears.

                          Building sand castles,
                              up to the sky.
                          Standing behind its ramparts
                              defending my soul.

                          When you are away from me,
                                     I need to oean.

Too Many Eyeballs Staring At Me

I beat back the shadows
all day long
for I know now
the right from wrong
a master student
rightfully so
this light disciple
expects to know
the way of a broken soldier
when the load is too much to shoulder
the back gives in from
all the weight
am I'm left sitting in 
that familiar dark place

I greet the doorman
who lets me in
shake his hand
with a familiar grin
I know his presence 
will bring much laughter
after all the darkness
knows whats the matter
a well known tango 
to a fiery soul
I've been this way enough
to let it go
I step over my body
when it's had enough
sometimes I feel doomed
but it's just bad luck

I'm bad as ****
I know how to be
skating on a line 
I drew up for me
can't relive yesterday's dreams
nothing I tell you
just what it seems

Too many people
too many freaks 
too many eyeballs
staring at me
staying under a halo
I keep it simple
its as though I've solved
one more evasive riddle

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