Best Althea Poems
Oh, Burdock! Let me see spring's fuchsia
Against sapphire skies touched with clouds bistre
Let ivory raindrops flow from clouds lackluster
To nurture emerald hallelujahs
Let thy fuchsia slowly fade turn to a ball
An emerald ball filled with seeds, ideas
Ideas vermillion, spicy mixed strias
Ready to release come amber of fall
When lilac blooms the awesome althea
Let bistre seed spill upon the ripe earth
Love as warm as ginger will it soon birth
The fall of life our love's panacea
Our spring's fuchsia turned into emerald
Silver winter turned soft rose petal gentle
Sonnet attempted to be written in Romanticism style..
Sponsor: Silent One
Written: March 15, 2016
Colors Used:
Yellow: amber
Blue: sapphire
Red: vermillion
White: Ivory
Purple: Lilac
Green: Emerald
Black/brown: Bistre
Pink: Fuchsia
Orange: Ginger
Gray: Silver
The tennis ball
Whacked over the net
Is whacked back again
Sometimes.
It is a tough leather that ball.
But this respiratory thing
That sucks the air from our lung
Teams against the self to win.
Now you are whacked
Over the line by it,
And to the cotton farm of Carolina,
And none can whack you back
Match point is for it
The ball is gone.
I want to lead you to safety like Harriet Tubman,
While we are on our way,
I want to stop traffic like Garrett Morgan,
Before we get there,
I want to right all wrongs like Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall,
While we are here I want to ensure that our minds and spirits are in the
right place and then we will get our hearts pumping like Dr. Daniel Hale Williams,
So that we can run through fields of gold like Jesse and Wilma,
And dance to the beat of a thousand drums like Katherine
Dunham and Josephine Baker,
I want to be the first up to bat like Jackie and Hank,
I want to resound through your ears and your memory bank,
Like Mahalia, Marion and Billie,
I want to fight battles like Muhammad and Joe,
I want to take a stand so that others may sit in comfort,
Like Ida and Rosa,
I want to give of my time, life, heart, mind, body and soul so that future generations
won't have to sit in the dark and sit on the sidelines like
Martin and Malcolm,
I want to soar through the bluest of skies like the
courageous Tuskegee airmen and Dr. Mae Jemison,
I want to be the first beauty you recognize like Vanessa Williams,
I want to undermine and backhand stereotypes like Althea, Venus
and Serena Williams,
I want to paint broad presidential brush strokes of the
the First Lady and her beau with hues of justice like Simmie
I want to act like kings and queens like Harry,
Sidney, Lena and Cicely,
I want to live on through the pages of your memory,
Like Maya, Zora, Lorraine, Langston and James,
can't you see?
Morning light bleeds color into the smoky night
The orb of dawn seeps out from behind the hills
Pieces at a time until made perfect
at the crest of a knoll.
Awakened in a mound of earth is a withered flower
Stroked back to life by golden fingers
Petals soft and unsure
Coaxed open by moist daylight’s song.
Endless is its name, endless is its beauty
A smile tender and fanned about a crimson heart.
Althea is a blossom that rises with the sun
Is put to sleep when the white moon appears
Because every day is a new life
it does not fear death.
___
FYI: The rose of Althea, or 'Hibiscus Syriacus', is called 'mugunghwa' in Korean. 'Mugung'
means 'endless', 'hwa' means 'flower'. It is the national flower of South Korea.
bare limbed althea
waiting for spring's call...
red cardinal flies
“Shakespeare wrote, ‘a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,’ and rose of Sharon, no matter what name you call it, is lovely.” Lynn Coulter
Exposing wondrous nature’s beauty
The Rose of Sharon bears creative reality.
Contrary to its name, the plant doesn’t have rose thorns’ claim
Yet ... it is heat lover that can stand up to summer’s flame.
Likewise called “Althea” and labeled “Hibiscus syriacus” scientifically
It’s not native to Syria, but comes from India and China actually.
While being air pollution, humidity and drought-tolerant
It thrives well in nutrient-rich soil, yielding petals colorfully radiant.
One variety is called Tri-color exuding blooms bright
Midst attractive pink, purple, and red --- capturing one’s sight.
Another is Pink Giant boasting flower size that’s largely dainty.
Five inches in diameter, with red centers, obviously pretty.
Then there’s Diana ... solid in white, immaculately full
Staying great at night; hence, for moon gardens, indeed useful.
Lovely Rose of Sharon,* with trumpet-shaped, single or double flowers
Mentioned in the Scriptures, reveals attribute of divine powers.
*Song of Solomon 2:1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
October 28, 2019
10th place, "Writing Challenge, October- Flower or Flowers " Poetry Writing Contest; Sponsored by Dear Heart - Wiishkobi Ode; judged on 11/1/2019.
The nebulae where a star was born
Alive glowing colors in varied hues
Glittered like a jeweled necklace that adorns
A bride ready to wed dressed in beaded shoes
Sparkling sunlight on water to amuse
Nebulae with shades of cobalt blue
A beauty drawing mankind to explore ahead
Like beautiful flowers of summer petals strew
Compared to Althea in her glory purebred
Nebulae glow and blossom in purple and red
Inspired by: Julia Ward's contest Last Line Prompt
Written May 24, 2016
She writes like Maya
She sings like Aretha
She dreams like Coretta
She reads like Oprah
She speaks like Barbara
She plays like Serena
She rocks like Tina
She rolls like Donna
She entertains like Diana
She cures like Maria
She paints like Edmonia
She kicks like Mia
She runs like Wilma
She throws like Lisa
She boxes like Laila
She dances like Anna
She skates like Surya
She invents like Patricia
She revolts like Angela
She influences like Condoleezza
She paints like Edmonia
She smiles like Mona Lisa
She loves like a mother
She protects like a tiger
She prays like Mother Theresa
And she cooks like momma.
Dear readers, you can add more
A natural woman is never poor
Please, beloved friends, be kind
To come up with more in your mind
She tumbles like Simone
She philosophizes like Simone
She quilts like Betsy
She laughs like Whoopi
She jokes like Leslie
She sings like Marie
She speed skates like Maame
She flies like Mae
She exercises like Gabby
She educates like Mary
She fights like Dorothy
She explores like Stephanie
She sounds like Winnie
She creates like Margaret
She dares like Harriet
She runs like Marion
She entertains like Josephine
She legislates like Maxine
She sows like Catherine
She teaches like Gwendolyn
She lifts like Ernestine
She acts like Diahann
She reports like Diane
She speaks like Michelle
She is serious like Michelle
She is strong like Althea
She is talented like Augusta
She is defiant like Cicely
She is brave like Shirley
She is normal like Marilyn
She is fearless like Maxine
She is relaxed like Rosa
She is inquisitive like Barbara
She challenges like Phyllis
She swings like Chris
She plays like Alice
She is talented like Venus
She is pretty like a flower
And she is like our mother.
A natural woman is not perfect
She deserves honor and respect
She needs love everyday
From trouble, she never runs away
Please add more to this poem
And do not curse or blaspheme
She writes like Maya
She sings like Aretha
She dreams like Coretta
She reads like Oprah
She speaks like Barbara
She plays like Serena
She prays like Mother Theresa
And she cooks like our mama.
Copyright © August 2018, Hébert Logerie, All rights reserved
Hébert Logerie is the author of several books of poetry.
FREEDOM
Some there are who can never attain their own potential
For their friends prefer them to be safe and lovable;
And some who choke their mind’s impulse from traditional
Or irrational belief in circumstances which are unprovable.
Stone walls do not a prison make* but thoughts carved in stone.
Give me freedom to choose a destiny which is mine own.
…
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
* “Stone walls do not a prison make, nor Iron bars a cage”
are of course famous lines from TO ALTHEA FROM PRISON
by Richard Lovelace
K-indly
I-nterpret
M-omentous
B-irthday's
E-xcellent
R-egards
L-etting
Y-early
A-crostic
L-ines
T-imely
H-ave
E-uphoria
A-s
G-lad
L-itterateur
E-xceptionally
E-mploys
R-apture
E-rasing
Y-our
E-motional
S-orrow
Topic: Birthday of Kimberly Althea Glee Reyes (February 11)
Form: Vertical Monocrostic
A-ugust
L-ets
T-wenty-sixth
H-ave
E-ffulgence
A-s
R-ays
O-f
S-un
C-learly
O-pen
Topic: Birthday of Althea Rosco (August 26)
Form: Vertical Monocrostic
K-ingdom
I-n
M-aker's
B-lissful
E-ternity
R-eally
L-ets
Y-ou
A-llow
L-ife
T-o
H-ave
E-nlightened
A-im
Topic: Birthday of Kimberly Althea (February 11)
Form: Vertical Monocrostic
A-lcohol
L-ets
T-he
H-umankind
E-vade
A-trocious
A-ttack
R-ightfully
A-bating
N-asty
E-pidemic's
L-ink
Topic: Birthday of Althea U. Aranel (June 07)
Form: Vertical Monocrostic
A-nnually
L-et
T-he
H-eart
E-njoy
A-s
G-ood
L-ines
E-mploy
E-ssential
R-emembrance
E-ndorsing
Y-ear's
E-uphoric
S-entence
Topic: Birthday of Althea Glee Reyes (February 11)
Form: Vertical Monocrostic