First breath, washed for light,
Last breath, rinsed of all life's dust -
Begrimed in between.
Star/Steer poem: This is about a traveler navigating the harsh Free State winter relying on the stars for direction and solace.
The Free State veld a canvas stark and white,
Icy Easterly winds cut through me to the bone.
A lonely traveler in the freezing Tweeling night,
I walk a path to a far away home.
The snow clad earth my bed, the sky my roof,
against the cold my spirit stands as proof.
Above the kapok a brilliant fierce guiding star
Ignites the darkness with its age begrimed flame.
It steers me to my home afar, though
frost bitten I whisper his name
It tells a story of resilience and might,
And guides me safely till morning light.
I sit brooding on my doorstep, begrimed,
Loneliness, like a ghost, within, settled;
Sunbeams, outside, spread lavishly sublimed,
The current of existence-whirls nettled...!
My little daughter, as though bored, sits near,
Her head on my chest; hands on my lap placed;
Is she hungry? Is she sharing my fear?
Is she riddled and puzzled and pain-braced...?
My kitty lay perplexed, blinking her eyes,
Awe-struck, why she's not given her ration;
She's not enticed in chasing any mice,
She seems to share my pain-filled fixation...!
Things around me, like my life, are shattered,
My broken casement nook is not mended;
Washed linens, though clean and dry, aren’t gathered,
Is my numbed Time doomed to stay suspended...?
I do not want to go inside my house,
Each room, by past memories, is haunted;
In the absence of my devoted spouse,
Though nature cheers me up, I feel daunted...!!!
In summer we shatter into pieces of grief
In autumn we decay as a fallen leaf
Mizzling rain that dribbles down begrimed window pane
Binds me to the chain of an old memory lane
Making balance betwixt two way traffic of solace and pain
like cold blooded amphibians and fishes that are tame
Sheperd that stands on the bridge betwixt life and death
Playing flute with petrichor emanating through breath
Taste of green chillies burn,bloom of lillies bewilder
Come,as the new rainbow,as the rebuilder
In winter we melt as white sheet of snow ,and disappear
and again we condense like colourless water,and reappear
In spring we renew with heather, hopes and flowers
to fly our kites high above clouds and showers
Written:05-06-2023
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
Whitened collar, fixedly starched
To the ultimate limits of self-perfection,
Points righteous, crooked finger
At an open-mouthed assembly,
Crouching beneath thick-
Eyebrowed gaze of a dark
Frock-coated scarecrow.
His cackling voice emits
Hollowed-out squawks,
Casting lines of invective
Like steel confetti
Into the ironic celebration
Of a judgemental wedding
For outsiders, condemned
Beyond the pale.
Heaven is expunged by murkiest haze of hell,
Begrimed in dark, closed-off shades,
A treacherous welcome for
Those who smear themselves
With so much intrigued slime of purest evil,
Cloaked with superior innocence
For the delightful delectation
Of ascetic, hair-shirted fools.
One flight of steps down
you can smell it
the putrid odour of urine
your eyes must adjust to the darkness
then you hear it
in the distance
Clunk, thud, Clunk
the sound of metal on stone
followed by loud swears
Funk, thud, Funk
closer now
Then you see him
a begrimed creature
Hobbling on a crutch
propping his metal leg,
lost in the war
War
had broken him,
physically
furrowed pain upon his face
he still rues his lost foot
People call him “Footroo”
Cause he hops like one
he spends his days underground
away from the nastiness
new enemies abound
Peace (huh)
had shattered him,
mentally.
This is his bomb-shelter now…
Five and a Toad
They marched in ragged order
under the brilliant, hot,
drenching sunshine,
with thin cotton clouds overhead.
Motley assorted clothes,
sweating, begrimed, sunburned, but eager faces.
One with a cast, blue
with purple stars and glitter,
a residual from a failed acrobatic
jump in the living room.
Dreaming the dreams of childhood,
they marched along the neighbor’s fence
carrying with them, a toad,
captured triumphantly to the
accompaniment of much screaming,
passing it from one grubby little hand to the next.
Marching in the brilliant sunlight,
they sang or perhaps just giggled.
5 year-olds playing in the waning
halcyon summer days of backyard childhood.
David Holmes
~
Diamond
invaluable, resplendent
shining, shimmering, scintillating
jewelry, gemstones, silica dioxide, blight
scratching, abrading, scarifying
commonplace, begrimed
Gravel
~
~ 2nd Place ~ in the "Sparkling Diamonds" Poetry Contest, Joseph May, Judge & Sponsor.
This is what awaits at home -
(I'll try explaining in a poem).
Taxi line or Uber call.
Heat I cannot take at all.
Mail piled up and plants a'droop.
Empty fridge or fruit-turned goop.
Messages on the machine.
Headlines that I haven't seen.
Laundry basket quickly filled.
Jet lag feelings 'bout to build.
Car begrimed and yes, by cricket,
Windshield likely sports a ticket.
Just this morning, eggs and scones
But flying home to local zones,
I'll need some time to readjust
Before the mem'ries turn to dust.
Forbears,Edie,Kate and Ann furnished apiece with brush and pan.Each
Victorian 'Miss' tied in service's abyss.Far off days,now long gone,their toil each
day was lengthy and long.With fires to light,floors to scrub,and carpets to brush
and drub.Mops forbidden,as they smeared the dirt and begrimed their prim
alpaca aproned skirt.They cleaned 'his' tub,emptied 'her' commode,a regular
chore in a housemaid's daily load.Must rise at six but never to mix and no matter
what,keep a stiff upper lip.Never lose your cool,a formal curtsey the perpetual
rule.Half day off once per month,so free to roam and catch the omnibus home.No
other opportunities in store except a marriage at eighteen or before.Upstairs and
down stairs ,no in between,starting out at just thirteen and just there to please as Master and his Lady take their ease.
My mouth is weak in gape
That night my eyes in gawp
The night of war in memory
Horrendous ISIS brought Paris.
Horror! The world in anguish
Bataclan Theatre in despair
Before Eiffel shrieked in anguish
The dead, maimed, the innocents
The glints of Eiffel now in glitch
Begrimed! 13th of eleventh month
As bodies in bags she sees
But cry not further, Eiffel
Borders shall be in open
Eiffel shall tower and smile
Bow not shall we to them
Cowards, men in dark visitations
In deep,drenched trenches did they wait
To confront the foe
Mud-infested and rat-swarmed.
Lit fags,shielded by begrimed and cupped hands,
Passing from mate to mate
Against the booming background
Of the heavy guns.
Some shells bursting overhead
Others throwing up clumps of dirt and burning flesh.
Stifled screams of pain
Which distant ears deny
As they dread the cry
"Over the top"
Into the blazing barrage and the limb-ripping wire.
Now in quiet,restful trenches do they lie
Stark white crosses
Populating the ground
Still and peaceful
Grim reminders of a war
We have time to regret
And wish it had not come to this
That so many had to give their lives
So selflessly to save our future
And lose theirs.
Behold, the aura of evening sky
colors fade to darkness, breathless.
Hands, spent toiling and tilling, reap
simple pleasure, and fingers begrimed.
Passion of the island people grows,
As upward the beast below boils.
© Jul 21 2010 African Asset contest “sky, soil, and sea”
Forbears,Edie,Kate and Ann furnished apiece with brush and pan.Each
Victorian 'Miss' tied in service's abyss.Far off days,now long gone,their toil each
day was lengthy and long.With fires to light,floors to scrub,and carpets to brush
and drub.Mops forbidden,as they smeared the dirt and begrimed their prim
alpaca aproned skirt.They cleaned 'his' tub,emptied 'her' commode,a regular
chore in a housemaid's daily load.Must rise at six but never to mix and no matter
what,keep a stiff upper lip.Never lose your cool,a formal curtsey the perpetual
rule.Half day off once per month,so free to roam and catch the omnibus home.No
other opportunities in store except a marriage at eighteen or before.Upstairs and
down stairs ,no in between,starting out at just thirteen and just there to please as
Master and his Lady take their ease.
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