Best Aquifer Poems
BLUE
The rain startled the clouds and fell like
a scare of possibilities. The day toggled
from then to now like a withering widow
A flustered squirrel sat and squirmed
and still nibbled at a dry stump
like eliciting poetry off ancient prose
Some never knew the intent of need
others feigned disinterest in inquests
turning over their earths again and again
I read the prognosis of your vertigo
And derived a rider. That it was mere
Math to team up or to sleep in the buff
An unpredicted rite of passage
after all shenanigans stand erased
to uncover new aquifer in antique spandrel.
To discover that the sky was never this blue.
10 Nov 13
For Chris' contest
Categories:
aquifer, color,
Form:
Free verse
Wet nights, warm days are what we want in the summer noosphere.
Man's mind one with weather.
If this is true, life is good, or will be good.
Can I be encouraged that my sons will find mystery on the planet
as I did?
How sweet the slow spring! May already and the canopy not out yet.
Woods quiet all winter.
Now I can't distinguish the many bird songs from where I sit.
Red maple flowers and first sugar maple leaves are, to me, the Christ
child
that's been coming.
The ancient poems and the new make the 1/10 inch of annual topsoil
from carbon dioxide loading.
As a humanist I want everyone pursuing happiness; as a naturalist
I sometimes pray for man's destruction. As a rationalist I admit
I lack data.
O to play slow and sure, even when the tune is fast. Inside an aquifer
of love for the audience.
Not to fear or even necessarily obey the changing wind's
direction. Being here I breathe and make the atmosphere as seen
from outer space.
The song of the world will often take you far from yourself. There
will be no self. How will you know yourself?
By knowing thyme and dandelion, the blue jay from the hawk,
the heron in its swamp, black cherries and the one pear at the junction
of the trails.
They are yourself.
Categories:
aquifer, fear, flower, love, mystery,
Form:
Verse
The year's spring rains were abundant, saturating and immersing us; a haunting of waters. Mother Earth accepted each downpour from her deep abode. Her bosom holds all earth's waters from brook to abyssal; arteries of creek and river, veins of lake and sea, heart of the oceans.
She sees the clouds grow ripe, feels the coarse and driven wind, hears the weighty rumble of thunder, and waits for lightning's charge to unleash certain fury. She breaths deep in anticipation. A deluge pours forth, mixing with the soil and the elements; a baptism granting absolution to the earth.
Mother Earth drinks her fill, passing the deluge of a night to the arteries of her being. Some of the cloudburst penetrates deep cracks and fissures in rock, replenishing well and aquifer. The purity of the gift restores the inmost parts of her being.
A flood swells her arteries past bursting. Fertile soils and banks are lifted, carried and cast forth on new land. She bows, absorbing the water's challenge. Yet, each time her countenance is altered, if imperceptibly. She holds dominion over the waters, yet she shares them will all life and the eternal sky.
Microbe and mountain. Sea creature and ocean deep. The infinite varieties of earth-bound life, and man. All are sustained, restored, and kept in stasis by the waters.
A Haunting of Waters
6-17-14
Categories:
aquifer, earth, environment, life, water,
Form:
Prose
The year's spring rains were abundant, saturating and immersing us; a haunting
of waters. Mother Earth accepted each downpour from her deep abode. Her bosom
holds all the waters from brook to abyssal; arteries of creek and river, veins of
lake and sea, heart of the oceans.
She sees the clouds grow ripe, feels the coarse and driven wind, hears the weighty
rumble of thunder and waits for lightning's charge to unleash certain fury.
She breathes deep in anticipation. A deluge pours forth, mixing with the soil
and elements; a baptism granting absolution to the earth.
Mother Earth drinks her fill, passing the torrent of a night on to the arteries of
her being. Some of the cloudburst penetrates deep cracks and fissures in the rock,
replenishing well and aquifer. The purity of this gift restores the innermost parts
of her being.
The flood swells her arteries past bursting. Fertile soils and banks are lifted,
carried and cast forth on new land. Mother Earth bows, absorbing the water's
challenge, yet each time her countenance is altered, if imperceptibly. She holds
dominion over the waters and shares them with all life and the eternal sky.
Microbe and mountain, Sea creature and ocean deep. Infinite varieties of
earth-bound life, and man. All are sustained, restored, and held in stasis
by the waters.
A Haunting of Waters
6-7-14
Categories:
aquifer, earth, mother, rain,
Form:
Free verse
Overflow of the waters of Lake Itaska
You carry your wealth to the waiting world,
Mighty Mississippi, half savior, half sewer,
Plant and animal wastes, dissolved minerals,
Venting prairie deluge, dividing a Nation,
Exposed aquifer of Great Plains, home of Buffalo ghosts,
And their equally threatened ancestor, the prairie dog.
Standing at your mouth I can wade your depths,
Even jump your width in places,
Though it is more difficult than the boy imagined,
And the winter's overgrowth problematic.
Your lightning like flash across the land (1)
Has haunted my dreams the whole of my life
And pulled at my soul like the moan of distant trains.
Now I am here at last, my dream becoming liquid,
Wooden oars, tent, canoe and provisions waiting,
Dr. Peppers stored in a sturdy ice chest.
I am more than ready to see the world through your eyes,
And to meet the sea as well in your company (if fate allows.)
My wife a novice and myself not much more,
We launch ourselves, glissando (2) toward New Orlean.
Brian Johnston
Sept. 19, 2014
Poet's Notes:
Everything in this poem is true as I can best remember. I was 28 at the time and my wife Kathy was 24 so it has been a few years ago that we did this. The eight chapters so far are not the end of this poem. I have at least 3 more chapters planned, one on portaging around dams, one on going through locks (beginning in Minneapolis-St. Paul) , one on leaving the river after traveling over 1,000 miles in 7.5 weeks, and then a final clean up including lessons learned and post trip consequences.
(1) 'lightning like flash' - I was imagining here how much the path taken by the Mississippi across the land actually resembles a lightning bolt's flash across the sky to earth.
(2) glissando - A musical word meaning a gradual sliding (transition) in tone from one note to the next note on the musical scale.
Categories:
aquifer, boat, dream, journey, nature,
Form:
Blank verse
METAPHOR MADNESS
Every day she brings him a beer
then complains about his drunkenness.
Does it matter that I have not told you
if she is his bartender or his wife?
Every day he reads the spiritual words
then goes into the desert and digs a new well.
Is he a pastor or a diviner?
Is there a difference?
“Don’t you see how angry you get?”, she asks.
“How you hurt the ones you love?”
Is she speaking to her pastor or her husband?
“Dear God! You mean everything to me,” he replies,
“yet I mean nothing to you. You have deserted me.”
Who is he talking to, the beer, the Creator,
the wife or the sands?
Now you are completely confused
and I am still looking for an aquifer.
Where will this metaphor madness end?
Categories:
aquifer, angst, conflict, humanity, mystery,
Form:
Free verse
POLLUTED HEART
Thirsty soil parches in scorching summer
Sucks liquid crystal drops of sparkling rain
Stores in deep aquifer pure groundwater
Brought to surface, pure it doesn’t remain
From humans contaminants it obtains.
Lone heart freezes in the dark of winter
Blooms in joy when colors of spring enter
Weaves tapestry of pristine love within
Abused by black mist of lust it welters
In polluted heart love stops to flow clean.
April 1, 2018
Syllable count: 10 each line
Rhyme : ababb ccdcd
Categories:
aquifer, analogy, heart, love, pollution,
Form:
Dizain
I've heard that the water here will run dry around 2017
I wrote an essay back in 87 about fresh water
I was quite young to have any inclinations about the importance
Water would have in the near future
I saw a man pouring out his liter bottle onto the ground
He had this look of disgust as though it had gone bad
I couldn't help but to wonder why not pour it onto something living
Rather than the sidewalk
We have been operating in automaton mode for too long
Too comfortable to question one's personal culpability
As people in countries not far away
Drink contaminated spill-off from our thoughtlessness
What good is a house made of gold if there is no water to be had
In a quixotic fashion
Many trust that our scientists will find a solution
Such as desalinizing the ocean or filtering polluted rivers
Which are possible with one exception
The ridiculous platform of how expensive it will be
To bring these ideas into fruition
Meanwhile landfills are overflowing with empty spring water bottles
And people living in the desert water their plush grass in the middle of the day
My deep concern lies with the children
I hope that our recklessness won't create an atmosphere
Of pure survival mode for them
An arena of mayhem based on the two element molecule we forget to nuture
Categories:
aquifer, lifepeople, water, people, water,
Form:
Free verse
Acquiescence of aquifer is acquiring an antelope's antennae but antennas are nit aerial so never cook a salted marsh for a meal. With or without chips. Dippy demonstrated design. Whilst the organisational orifices officially ordered oranges. Lovely. Lots and lots of pips. But no pillows. Aqueous cream is best for moisturising and conditioning curtains but curtains are neither closed nor open on a ship so go into boards like a bounding bouncy body of boing. Oh! Rabbit then? No. Why no? Because leftover leaps are meals made by a raja radius and some information may not always be an inclination on a curve dive of Aguinaldo hijab wearing wrestler at the shop. And to the point is to the pout and spouts are silently stripped. Not striped. Stripped. Saintly stoically sold small smiles. And the dutiful snuff box both bothered and bothering is a type of new found tie pin. Z integrationally Z at thirty five little cute cups to kudos pf twenty two minus eighty. Z
Categories:
aquifer,
Form:
SANCTUARY
THE POOL HAS
SURROUNDING GREAT BOULDERS ASSURING AND SECRETIVE,
CUPPING WIDE BUBBLING DEEP BAPTISMAL RUSHES OF AZURE WATER
RELEASES HOT FLASHING PENDANTS IN GLORIOUS JUNGLE REPRIEVE.
THE POOL HAS
MUFFLED SOUNDS FROM NIGHT ANIMALS CALLING GUESTS’ REST RULES,
THE AQUIFER FLOWS UP STRONG, SPRINGS OUT WHITE FOAMING RIPPLES.
SUPREME GREEN WATERCRESS REINS IN DRIPPING OVERHANGS AND COOLS.
THE POOL HAS
A PLACE FOR CONTINUOUS QUIETUDE FOR MEMORIES SWEET AND SOUR,
THAT LACKS POUNDING REMMNANTS FROM OLD HUMAN CRITIQUES RINSED
AWAY IN DEEP DIPS REFRESHING THE MIND WITH A SOFT CLEANSING POWER.
THE POOL HAS
MAGNIFICENT WATERFALLS OF TREMENDOUS HEIGHT AGAISNT GLISTENING SUNRAYS,
SPINNING CRISP REFLECTIONS INTO A TUMBLING CHURNING BOTTOM WHERE YOU STAND.
SWIMMING IN THESE SPECIAL WATERS NEW SOUL AND REJUVENATED BODY, YOU IT PAYS.
THE POOL HAS
THE MASTER’S UNIQUE CIRCUMFUGAL TOUCH OF BEAUTY IN EERY MOSS COVERED STONES,
SLEEPING LEOPARD, RED PARROT, ELEPHANT EARS AND CAMILLA FLOWERS ALONG AND NEARBY,
RESOLVES EVERY COURAGEOUS THOUGHT FOR A SATISFIED FLATLAND RETURN OF NEW OLD BONES.
BY JEAN A. WILSON, SEPTEMBER 1, 2011
Categories:
aquifer, adventure, animals, dedication, faith,
Form:
Rhyme
Pass upon me thus in silent rain
a frequent silver blush in dripping tears
silent to ignite, repeat, refrain
as washing pools of silent, silver years
mounted in the wells and darkest pain
a swelling of an aquifer of fears
mourning silk to lap and leave it's stain
while holding all the thunder in arrears
storm of soul and spirit thus to wane
upon the passerby's to look, endear
rivers bent on sorrow to attain
to swallow now, in haste, and hold quite near.
Categories:
aquifer, loss, love, passion, people,
Form:
Terza Rima
Regret beats down like rain
Longing is like a still aquifer
No matter how I cup my hands
Regrets slip through my fingers
Filters underground to longing
All my failures transpire
Comes down in a torrent
The soil drinks all my regrets
Pools into something pure
Kilometers out of reach
I bring out a shovel
But emptiness has no soil
Here's my drill too short
But my bit is too brittle
It breaks just out of reach ‘
The soil of a failed marriage
The topsoil of a son divided
Each grain of my shortcomings
Receiving my sweat and blood
Meet sweet and sour longing
Quenched then parched again
Give me living water, Jesus
Make me porous enough
Solute dissolved into solution
That nothing drains to longing
If I could let go of solidity
To be dissolved by regrets
To be transfigured to water
So, I dig my well, empty
Not knowing I am the Pacific
Make a home in the desert
Regret right as rain, me askew
Sweet longing out of reach
Myself, their conduit broken
Dig into the impossible China
Not knowing I’m 70% water
Knowing, make me a pail
A small hole if regret overflows
Myself a drop of gritty blood
Reaching toward the water table
Longing like the salty ocean
Categories:
aquifer, extended metaphor, longing, ocean,
Form:
Free verse
Stars skim the Milky Way
Perspire molten dew
Engulf the soundless wonderment
and blow it into view
Down below the aquifer
of clouds and palpitations
we watch burnt skies ignite and fly
beyond imaginations...
Categories:
aquifer, happiness, life, love, nature,
Form:
Quatrain
I shall refrain
From voicing my political taste
As it varies by occasion
A soft mushy oatmeal
Breakfast
Accompanied by a few
Blushing strawberries
A street vendor hot dog
With relish
And a side of sauerkraut
Washed down with
A finely distilled, purified
Arizona Aquifer water
A “choke and slide” PB&J
On the run
To pick up the grandkids
Fresh fruit and veggies
Of unknown origin
A flavorless meat mime
Of questionable authenticity
Milk, with an expiration date
Longer than mine
Dessert
The hope of the day
Soft, chewy, warmth
Draped in a whipped cream robe
Delivered
To another table.
Categories:
aquifer, fun, humor,
Form:
Free verse
I want to walk with you
on the hills of tomorrow
drag fingers like tines
in the dark dirt
prepared by centuries
of anticipation
nothing but a few shoots
of grass there
waiting perfectly
for growth, some
human attendance, some
ones to roll
and plant deeply
sending roots
to the aquifer.
I want the honey-sweet sun
to make your skin quartz
glimmering like a thousand mirrors
and every living thing,
every dewdrop-living microbe
and sharp-eyed circling hawk
and waving photosynthetic wand
to take notice--
Strangers from a city
are peaceful now,
love bound and harmonious
and mean everything to you,
are here
infinite one minute
and the gone the next
in combustion of what you created.
Categories:
aquifer, love, nature,
Form:
Free verse