Best Adversities Poems
Mum sat in her aromatic garden,
admiring its charm and grace.
It was a cold morning,
but mum never seemed to feel it any more.
Her eyes were tired, life's adversities had taken their toll,
yet the smallest things filled them with joy.
Like the perennial ivory lilies blossoming
among her loyal, royal forget-me-nots.
The tranquil scents of lilac lavender,
blooming among radiant Jerusalem sage,
always made her smile.
Her hands were wrinkly, but resilient,
despite years of hard work as a single mother.
Still strong enough to tend to her grandiose display
of ruby red, aureolin yellow and puce pink roses.
Mum always told me the thorns were like knights -
there to protect the rose's fragility.
That a woman is a man's most precious flower,
requiring tender care and appreciation.
Evergreen conifers parade along the perimeter of
my lovely mother's garden, like a colony of soldiers,
protecting a beautiful, yet delicate,
Japanese cherry blossom tree.
Mum always told me it reminded her about life,
how everything was temporary, just like its fragile buds,
that only blossomed in the spring and
how the lightest breeze blew them away.
Mum taught me so much and was my inspiration,
picked me up when I was defeated,
taught me that only in defeat do we learn.
When the world tried to change me,
taught me to accept myself,
to love myself before I could love others
and be true to who I am.
As I sat with mum admiring the beauty of the seeds sown,
melancholic tones flooded my emotions,
wondering how I would cope without her.
Was I selfish wishing to die before her,
so I would not have to mourn for her,
but it would be so heartbreaking
for her to mourn for me.
My contemplation was interrupted by an outbreak of rain.
Mother simply smiled and said:
"Rain is mercy from God, my son."
Written 26 February 2016
Quote: A man can fail many times, but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.
John Burroughs
________________________________________
Inspired by life’s goals, winners are intuitively aware,
A loss is but a steppingstone, not a reason to despair;
Again and again, with certitude they play the game,
For triumph, they envision, is written in every name.
They never seek to blame others, for own mistakes,
Instead, they course-correct, averting heart-breaks,
Re-learning, deep in introspection, as they re-assess;
Ameliorating ways of failures, reaching for success.
When life is perturbed in adversities, they fear not,
Cognizant~ anything worthwhile must be hard-fought;
Summoning conquering ways, every failure taught,
To attain ultimate milestone, reveries of victory sought.
They accept, they advance, when things go wrong,
Strumming theme winsome, emanating from life’s song,
Echoing a pledge revered, treasured for quite long;
Avowing~ to them, the reigns of future shall belong.
Dreams of passion, dreams coveted, refuse to die,
For resolutely their objectives, driven believers vie;
Until triumphantly, bells-elated, of success chime,
Trumping sad sighs of failures, defeated over time.
"Bring it, life, all your adversities...they only strengthen me!" - quote by poet.
oh, adversity...
haven't you exhausted
all efforts
to knock me off my equilibrium,
to make me
cry a river?
you came to break me in two
yesterday
with bells on;
jiggling around your ankles.
instead, all you got in return was
only....a shrug.
you saw no sign
of weakness on the surface
or deep within me.
you waited for tears
that never came.
you kept on poking
yet your needle pricks
didn't make me wince
you stabbed me with daggers
that never punctured my skin
or made me bleed....
are you disappointed?
surprised that your sharp weapons
cause me no pain,
but instead, tickle me?
go ahead, keep making me
stronger.....
To my enemies,
cloaked in t w i n k l i n g topaz~
I’ve become immune
to your illusive m a n t r a s,
recited in roseate refrains.
I’ve learned to see
the vermilion
f l o a t i n g
between venomous
pigments of
psychedelic sunsets
For life is a whirlpool
of uncertainties
slithering through
l o o p h o l e s of adversities
We waltz through
h i g h s and l o w s
while masked foes
orchestrate a
a circus embellished
in emerald s p r i n g s
Yet, I f o r g i v e
your i g n o r a n t skies,
unable to grasp
the vision of loyalty
You’ve long been
preaching in
verses of lyrical lies,
soaring above
catastrophic canopies~
draped with my
sentimental s i g h s
this conscience remains
constantly crippled
by the ecstasy of
poisonous promises~
served from
diamond chalices
once upon
a blood m o o n
There’s still
a pearlescent
shore for faithless
footprints in the
island of h e a l i n g
in the marine bed
of softness
that f l o w s
beneath seething seas,
there I’ll sculpt a
lagoon of
p r a y e r s across
fire corals that
f l i c k e r
in tints of
lethal lime green
As I allow aquatic
pearl ruffles to ripple
through weary waves,
they become the
sacred v e s s e l
that unveils
hyacinth stars,
when your heart is
as dark as the
eclipsed moonflowers
Tonight, I’ll rewrite
the poems I’ve woven
from golden arrows
that assassinated
the alliterative tranquility
in sinister silence
within my inner psyche
In the journey of revival
I’ve mastered the art
of wearing pain
like a crown of
thistles and thorns
I’ll forgive you
amidst unspoken apologies,
and e r a s e the
a c h i n g colors
within greying rainbows,
behind your
soulless eyes.
For, I can feel the
insecurities r u s h i n g
through those veins~
longing for an empathetic
empire that
serves you
k i n d n e s s
So take these metaphors,
make them yours,
ink them across
your s u n l e s s canvas,
and r i s e beyond the
demons that lurk
as shadows within
your a r t l e s s heart.
May the light of twilight,
correct your insincere intentions.
Slave to wayward thoughts,
unwritten poems return to haunt.
Tempest of tragedy arrives as a harbinger,
wrecking fences that divide sleeping paths.
There is no one to show the way.
Father's sins betray,
mother's tongue destroys.
Punishing a misled mind,
to ponder unwanted silence.
Time is no friend, so much is lost in translation.
Perturbed by forgotten promises,
heart becomes a victim to the void,
broken dreams have left behind.
Although a victor of emotional battles,
scars sting, like salt rubbed into wounds.
Soul unable to bare suppressed burdens,
admits defeat to mental adversities.
Life is like a portrait,
moving in slow motion.
Its black and white hues,
highlight uncertainties of future passages,
reminding of regrets from past passengers -
pausing present foretold destinies.
Life is a crossroad of two mismatched meadows,
one full of blossoms blooming through gain,
one full of brambles hiding childhood treasures.
Yet all flowers eventually die,
brambles sting, but can be cleared.
Life is an ephemeral eclipse -
a balance between light and darkness.
Questions will always overbalance answers.
Change is unpredictable like the September sun.
A dilemma of chance and choice,
expressed through analogies and metaphors
poems come to life,
when tired tongues are silent.
The Silent One
15 September 2019
Example for the Crossroads contest
"Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words,
after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost,
something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry."
— Mary Oliver
With pen in hand, I readily compose heartfelt lines
filled with aggregations of thought and emotion.
Verses that break chains that bind, setting me free
as if I were a shackled slave in the Land of Goshen.
Freed by my pen, I've been redeemed from the sea,
and each poem a litany, recited on a rolling wave.
Poetry is the seafaring wind that fuels my sails,
navigating me to exotic, faraway places I crave.
I'm unanchored without the burden of an albatross
tied around my neck when I choose to compose.
While tethered to a pen, I'm safe and kept afloat
in tragic times of mourning and sorrowful woes.
Rhyming romantic Sonnets stirs my sensual blood,
for then I am imagining being someone's treasure.
With the heart of a passionate poet, I take part
by scribing torrid scenes of fervor beyond measure.
Writing breathes anima into the chasms of my soul.
I celebrate my poetry as art, a revered tour de force.
Poetry is my source of equilibrium, joy, and peace
when life's adversities attempt to steer me off course.
“Promises in September's magic”
“promesse nella magia di settembre”
Sweet September arrives again,
hearing the celestial melody and
symphony of a nocturnal wind
calling your name, beneath a
shimmering rain of stardust, my Venus.
I picture your rare beautiful soul
gazing at the glowing moon,
searching for mine in the firmament,
closing your eyes in abandon,
to the soft touch of the breeze,
my korean princess.
Enveloped in your rhapsodic cadence,
I can hear autumn's footsteps,
emerging from its seclusion,
kinetically flickering amidst mahogany foliage
rustling in remnants of summer musings,
as I wear a crown of marigolds,
graciously framing the aspen
contours of my enigmatic aura.
Let the autumn winds dance through
your hair beneath our tangerine sunset,
walking along the boulevard of our
diamond dreams, hand in hand,
reaching serenity in promises of
tomorrows and whispers of love,
my Aphrodite.
There is magic in the autumn air,
merging our sapphire emotions in depth,
with your divine essence, like the
lifeblood that wraps me in an
elysian bliss of our vows, to be
the cure and light for each other,
crossing over storms, adversities and
darkness, my marvelous creature.
I patiently wait for dawn,
hearing your heartbeat with mine,
playing our love song, amidst your
enchanting, breathtaking smile,
gazing into my eyes, as I
get lost in your beauty, for you
are the first marvel in this world,
my blue rose.
I wish I could float with the clouds,
beyond silken horizons,
gliding towards your
euphoric essentia, pondering;
what hides deep in the shadows?
Stumbling upon vast constellations,
discovering your mesmeric aphrodisia,
binding my heart and soul to yours,
breathing in our burgeoning love story.
LETTER TO MY FUTURE SELF
Hello there, sweet Lady Jane,
So, it is three weeks before you turn seventy,
do you think you can honestly tell you found
your peace of mind, contentment, happiness?
Or are you still searching for answers to the
things you never understand and wondering
the what ifs, when you damn know there would
be no answers, no explanations, no clarifications.
Your children are giving you a party and all your
grandchildren will be there to celebrate you.
Do they make you proud for what they become?
Or do you still think you did not spend enough time
with them when you cannot turn back time or do
you still worry and wish something better for them?
All your siblings with their spouses, children and
grandchildren will join your family in celebrating
you reaching a major milestone, are you excited?
Or do you still feel like an outsider for your
mother, their mother treated you differently.
I know your life did not turn to be what you wanted,
as your life journey put you through many adversities
including sorrow and pain that you turned out to be
what you are meant to be, a strong willed woman.
You learned to let go the shadows that haunted you
and you accepted and embraced what life threw at you
becoming appreciative and thankful with your blessings.
In the past, you were asked many times what your plans
were for the next five years? ten years? for the future?
You had so many for you couldn’t get no satisfaction.
Now, you just whisper let it be, the words of wisdom.
Your dreams never materialized; but they never left you.
So at this time in your life you think you are never too old
to dream or create new ones by reinventing yourself.
You dare to live your life at its fullest and take a chance
to create your own happiness for it is a decision, a choice.
So, my sweet Lady Jane, it is nice to see you not worrying
about the future; but dancing and rocking to rock and roll
music, living like Ruby Tuesday, you come and go and
change every new day and you just imagine, living for today.
Ahhhh……..
11/22/21 Your Favorite Poem of 2021 Poetry
Chantelle Anne Cooke
9/18/21 Written and Submitted
Letter To Your Future Self Poetry
Silent One
NOTE: My pen name is Sweet Lady Jane
from the Rolling Stone's Lady Jane
Vast dust bowls surrounding the land
barren barely supporting any life
Stark and so bleak, just sand
sand as far as you can see
Wicked winds churning up
forever changing canvass
reforming the dune hills
maps little use to you here
Watch the Grecko lizard
as he dashes over the sand
his feet barely touching, as he
scurries then dives down deep
Harsh and Relentless
yet with a stark beauty
that some how pacifies
Life needs these adversities
It is on them that nature thrives
all we can do is onwards strive
stark dangerous and life threatening
yet holding a promise of life restarting
written 08/02/2013
contest PD's submit a poem any theme will do
Quote:
If there were no night, we would not appreciate the day,
nor could we see the stars and the vastness of the heavens.
We must partake of the bitter with the sweet.
There is a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day.
They prepare, they purge, they purify, and thus they bless.
>>>> James E. Faust
************
For Light Then Plants Its Invincible Seeds
In that deep darkness, no pity exists
Fate too often decries such on its list
Of destruction and sad, sorrowful woes
Those mortal man feels as hard, heavy blows
Once held within, eyes bled fast to go blind
While lost hope too, seeds a worm-wooded mind!
In that set malaise, how can love rejoice
Human soul sees life as having no choice
But to bend, bow and admit utter defeat
For evil wins and evil always cheats
Agony cries, beast on human flesh dines
Where struggling in morbid black, no light shines!
In that sepulchre no pleas can escape
This world seems but a devilish landscape
Born not for man but for deep disaster
And in it, Fate and Death are two masters
Such is the great power that darkness holds
Mankind seems to be made from broken molds!
Let one ray of Light enter that abyss
Fate then finds that its poison arrows miss
For Light then plants its invincible seeds
Tends new garden removing all the weeds
And Death, its dark-dreaded touch must then wait
For Heaven above cast Light changing Fate!
Robert J. Lindley, 4-11-2021
Rhyme,
( For what is man, if divine Light does not shine )
Our path, sometimes grows arduous with bends and twists.
Trials of life keep tormenting us and others.
It's miserable to watch or endure such suffering.
But despite all heartache, we feel we are not done.
When I see the swamp bird with broken wings
Struggling to rise from the water’s edge.
When I see the deer, running away from its predator,
With all its might, I am filled with a zest to fight all odds.
In my doubt, such scenes fill me with reassurance,
Making me feel the rush of blood in my veins.
Today is the only day, a minutia of life,
To get all wrongs right, to seize all opportunity.
Adversities can hang heavy on us, pulling us down.
But muster courage and catch the bull by its horn.
Winds may blow, tempests may rise,
But don’t relent, persevere, and endure.
Never allow your fears parade victoriously
Through the spectrum of your dreams
When you feel life as bland and monochrome
Think of the colors of the rainbow arching in heaven
To make life sweet, recall all the sweet moments,
Those that you want to re-live again
Sure, there are a million of them, joyous and sweet,
Exciting, and engaging, pouring balm on our scars.
Let us freeze those moments in time!
Too precious to go off our heart.
They make life worth living, worth cherishing,
Giving each fresh morning a kick start.
Have you forgotten to laugh over a prank?
Have you stopped watching a lovely scene?
Have you evaded a gregarious company?
Have you failed to enjoy a savory cuisine?
Break free of all the ropes that bind!
Let loose the spirit within and let it fly high.
Shed out your dry reticence n’ reserve!
Let your geniality, many hearts win!
Life is like a nut,
Differs in shape, size, color or crust,
Life is like a nut.
For some, it’s like a coconut,
Beyond the reach, safe from gust
Very important, much privileged!
Whether unripen or matured.
For some it’s like a peanut,
Malleable, fit in budget
Widely spread, versatile no doubt
However, down and out.
For some it’s like a walnut,
You can see the eminence clear cut
Set comfortably in its dwell,
In a hard stilted shell.
For some it’s like a pine nut,
Gazes weird I tell you what
Shielded with strong beautiful woody cone,
Prevents you! to invade its zone.
For some it’s like a cashew nut,
Self-interested, pricy somewhat
Tightly attached with red pulpy drupe,
Be cautious! While shelling the fruit
For some it’s like a chestnut,
Down-to-earth, graceful but,
Surrounded with sharp spines called “Bur”
All adversities ought to conquer.
Life is like a nut,
Differs in shape, size, color or crust,
Life is like a nut.
When everyday life overwhelms you,
And you find it hard to enjoy peace of mind,
When you cannot cope with the stresses of life
And you want to leave all of your troubles behind,
But you cannot flee from your adversities
If you focus on worldly desires,
And any form of earthly addiction
Will not bring you any peace of mind,
So don't worry about any misfortune,
Take everything to God in Prayer,
Kneel down before his presence,
And leave your burdens there,
And in stillness of the hour
You can feel his quiet power,
In a prayer and meditation hour.
Confronted with conflicting self-forces
my flesh groans in adversities’ braces
gripped by haughty human nature that reigns
over flawed sinful carnality strains.
Granted with grace of redemption by Christ
my soul owns His eternal life, blood-priced
along imputed righteousness divine
changing me from iniquities’ design.
Quickened toward God-consciousness delight
my spirit yields to Almighty light
striving to win own personal battles
smiting selfishness, pride and greed rattles.
Settling to choose best in dilemmas’ test
my faith seeks truth from Scripture wisdom nest
believing immutable verities
learned well from discipleship certainties.
Created in God’s image: wondrous deed
my essence is complete through Him indeed
made functional through ministerial acts
living for Him, reaching-out midst peace-pacts.
Staying in the center of the Lord’s will
my heart contented, with love He does fill
while satisfied by His faithfulness’ bliss
prospered in glad service I cannot miss.
Blest with uniqueness of distinct beauty
my being finds worth in Jesus’ bounty
He values me through His compassion wealth
enriching* personhood by divine health.
*2Corinthians 9:11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
January 26, 2021
6th place, "Non-judgmental Eye" Premier Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Unseeking Seeker; judged on 1/29/2021.
Beautiful, you are, from whichever way my eyes see
Swift is your style, with something I can never compete
Reserved, you are, don't let yourself sway by ineffectual things
Special in your own humble way, an angel without wings
Tender, you are, with an elusive, passionate touch
Your love's like the breeze, yet you don't pamper much
Sexy, you are, for the radiant beauty that lies inside
Lucky, I am, to have you as my beloved bride
Caring, you always do, like a silent whisper never heard
Independent you want to be, like a little carefree bird
Ruthless, you sometimes are, still there lies a cause
Strong, you want me to be, by eliminating all flaws
Honest, baby, you are, doesn't matter what the context might be
Never backing down even in the face of immense adversities
Silent, you are, a shy, reticent girl needing a gentle kiss
Unaware of the joy you bring to me, so a little 'thank you miss'
Do you at times wonder if my words are true?
Yes, my dear, I don't need a reason to say 'I love you'.