Best Altered Poems
clouds
of
incense~
inhaling
exotic
dreams
AP: Honorable Mention 2020
Towers collapsed to foundations,
The planes exploded in air,
To gratify firebrand preachers
Destruction and death everywhere.
Bus became coffin on byway,
Train torn up beneath ground,
Fanatics end innocent life,
Spin godless chaos around.
Child kneels broken at graveside,
Tears drip down to the earth,
A consciousness of pure evil
Deems human life of no worth.
Enemies fester within,
Harbour a doctrine and creed,
Under the guise of religion,
And nurtures a virulent seed.
Enemies hidden within,
Feral smiles, baring of teeth,
Approve of a racist agenda.
Murder by twisted belief.
Why should we drown beneath?
Fundamental waves of hate,
Why should we have to live
In this an altered state?
They can go to other places
Where their twisted creed is rife,
Where martyrdom and slaughter
Construe their way of life.
The simple, sorry factor
The ironic doctrinaire:
The places of their genesis
Won’t stand them living there.
Thus decent, honest people
Are left unto their fate,
A homeland under terror
Remains an altered state.
Shakespeare's quill gave Romeo and Juliet a tragic ending
but that's a sad love story I think needs a bit of mending.
Yes, he's the Bard, but quite frankly it broke my heart
to learn they both died needlessly. I hated that part.
In my rewritten dialogue between them, I'd find a way
to change their ill-fated future and have Juliet say,
"Romeo, it's only for you that my heart will ere yearn.
I will simply fake my death and when our families learn
that we've left Verona, we will be married... man and wife
and be together as we have planned, happy with life."
The messenger she sent to give Romeo the good news,
I'd replace with a more diligent one that I would choose.
I'd have made the couple more intelligent and shrewd,
perhaps put an end to the Montague and Capulet feud.
The tale of star-crossed lovers would end on a happy note,
without Juliet seeming to have died. No need for an antidote.
When Juliet says, "Romeo. Romeo. Wherefore art thou?"
He would come to her on the balcony, and he would vow...
"Juliet, I swear, never did my heart love until now.
For I never saw true beauty til this night,
and if perchance our families had forbidden us to wed,
from Verona we would've left. From Italy we would've fled.
With apologies to Shakespeare, my edit I would offer,
not a penny nor one Euro would I take for my coffer.
Indulge me for just a moment for I'm a romantic at heart,
and dared alter the ending by not keeping the couple apart.
Altered Perspective
“The higher you go the cooler
“The air and weather become.”
No sooner had I been a Ruler
Than I was utterly unwelcome.
“We elevated you to the Chair
“Of comfort and to Authority.”
It turned to be an electric chair
That torched me to Eternity!
“You’ll receive very fat peaks...”
Attractive package so I thought.
Ah! What deep and deadly peaks
From vultures in a drought!
“Adopt being a true Motivator
“Who, by example must lead.”
I turned out to be an Activator
Of worker indolence instead!
“Management means doing a job
“Through others; one, two or three.”
Yet, menial work bereft my snob,
All are doing work through me!
‘You must Control, you must Lead.”
How sweet power sounds to be!
Yet, en masse my toe they tread
‘Before chasing me up the tree!
“You should do all but Plan,
“And eschew deviating Course.”
I’m isolated, I am just One
On the mercy of a United Force!
The Higher you go the Cooler....
No! The Higher, the Hotter:
I’m brewed, they are the brewer
I seethe in Management’s pot!
**Management Principles construed from a different perspective!
JM
23th Oct’ 2013
Not even the softest hint of dawn
can wring regret from December's night
Nor can find remorse from the frozen ground,
or hasten a winter's thaw…
Yet, we are but wise
who will answer the brittle sound,
enlightened with a new-found awe
Rejoice in the pristine plan
and sight of this snowbound land
_____________________________________________________
11/15/16
Contest: Quote Prompt I- Free Verse
Sponsor: Laura Loo
He was all fired up
he had it all figured out
this was it, the end of us
"I need my space" or so he thought
until she entered the room
dressed totally different
to what is “her norm”
a black dress
with high heels
legs that go on forever,
he almost walked into the bathroom
door
mouth hanging open
"Err did you go to work like that?" he
asked
“Yep of cause I did, I always
do,"was her reply
Uhm, it's the first time I see you
dressed like that
Nonchalantly while getting rid of her
clothes she replied,
“Well now if you more at home and
less "at work"
You’ll see me more in my work attire
then in my pajamas”
Gawking at her scanty underwear,
He saw her swing her hips as she left
the room
Confucius Joe was left behind,
feeling less desperate for space and
more a need for closeness
©030620121735
On an early spring day, washed brilliant with clover
In the land of the sun, and sweet cherry blossom
A tremble, a rumble, that rattled the earth
Cracking open the spring day, like the devil's own plaything
Plates of dispute, on the edge of destruction
Beneath the sea’s surface…anger's wrath lies in waiting…
It came with no warning, …a mighty surge of horror
A tower of strength, to this tiny island flower
The harsh call of nature, came boldly from the shore
Relentless, the shaking, battering to the core
And altered the earth with a shattering shrill
Spilling despair, in a pillage of flurry
Killing the helpless, yet… leaving the courage
O’ land, of gentle people, wearing dignity’s expression
Those from afar, watched on with compassion
We gasped, then we cried, yet are awed with impressions
How hands helping hands, and courage ensued
Kind hearts, claimed the bruised, and calmed the confused
You banded together…helping each another,
Balance of elders, will hold you forever..
Grace under fire…. with honor we brand you
You raise up the spirit with hands of the valiant
Respect you have earned and honor you wear
The sun keeps on rising…..and will shine ever more
He thinks to change times and laws the spiraling silencer of truth. Who burns the libraries and books, in attempts to rewrite your history, Abaddon is one of his names and when he speaks, he speaks of himself. The war of this world closer now, to one world, one religion, and one language. The rich men spare no expense, for they only have this world. Johann Adam Weishaupt and multitude of others, try to establish the vision but they shall fail. False prophets and false miracles: they are of the was not. If you predict something you plan to do, with all technological wonders like some twisted Hannibal codex but they have no honor, For they mutually share destruction, with one mind. Desensitizing you, to the spirit of the antichrist, as they assign and track your number This Big Sister is THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS Mandela effect Esperanto a language That can’t be, yet is
Seven billion people in seven distant lands,
Scattered as products of desolate brands.
We are the puzzle pieces, distinct from each,
As leaves give beauty to an evergreen beech.
Different pieces of puzzle, put into a frame,
Individual piece have no identity or name.
Together we build in solitary perfection,
A humane beauty beyond perception.
.
beneath a sea, plates of dispute spawn waves,
born with the intent to leave the shoreline
altered
_
turbines of wind in pillage of fury,
kill the helpless, but do not leave courage
altered
_
from brilliance of a firestorm's vengeance
don't be blinded by fear, hope must not be
altered
________________________________________________
Form-- Dixdeux O
for Deb's Contest: Wannabe Haikuettes
In an altered state.
I reached out to you.
Your response was better understood
with closed eyes and nodded head.
You taught me of protest and laughter.
Of fear and loneliness.
A Mothers love
in times of destruction.
The forlorn cries of a lover never to return;
Wishing they were there to comfort me
in my state of numbness.
We still speak often;
I on this lonely rock of
stone. And you up there
lonely in the dark
waiting for companions
in your lunar home.
Maybe one day we will meet
in the flesh.
When I leave this cruel world
and say goodbye.
Until then I will hear your voice
bending each ear with your sweet,
almost mythical words.
The sound of metal scraping on asphalt, echoed through the frosty morning air, as the trailer slid and skidded, leaving chaos and destruction there.
The semi-truck came hurtling fast, its trailer swerving, out of control, I felt the impact as it struck my car, a moment that shook my very soul.
My mind was racing, filled with fear, as I fought to keep control, the truck careening all around,a scene that was beyond my goal.
The trailer flipped, in slow motion it seemed, a moment is frozen in time, my heart was pounding, my breath was short, as I braced for what I feared was my last climb.
Though I walked away, the injuries were real, more than just a few bruises to reveal, my back was sprained, my pelvic bone cracked my life was forever changed, my future attacked.
We were talking on the phone about this and that
Things with meaning only to her and I
Of anything we could strike up a conversation
Intimate, yet with a barrier so high
For we were friends
Only.
That night, in the background, the uttering of another voice
A voice I thought I knew
And a part of me decayed, nay died, forever
A cutting so deep, so deep
For she and I were friends
Only.
The mood was gone, the memory so fond
An end, a ceasing of conversation and now tears
The barrier once was words, and now it is hardened steel
I was convinced; I had been fooled, confirming my fears
For it was then that I knew
We would always remain friends
Only.
An altered state of reality,
Could there really be a duality?
Who determines if everything is twisted?
I always thought everything just coexisted.
It’s just a matter of perception,
Outsiders just see a complexion.
It really comes down to perspective,
It’s all subjective.
Who are these fellow creatures?
They claim to be our teachers.
© Deborah Seale Schnadelbach
3/4/2022
We look inside our being,
Deep inside our thoughts,
Another way of life,
Another ghost to chase,
Our mind is filled with notions,
Internal variations of time,
Dubious from within our self,
Hesitant and unsure,
So much depends on yesterday,
Today appears as not,
To reach beyond our soul in time,
Without altering passion with our mind.