Best Asserting Poems
A transgender child
does not not exist
just because a white man
says that that is so
as two spirited
third genders
and others
(eight in the Talmud! that I didn’t know)
exist around the globe
as in the
hijra of India
fa’afafine of Samoa
burrnesha of Albania
quariwarmi of Peru
guevedoche of Dominican Republic
muxe of Oaxaca
sekrata of Madagascar
fakaleiti of Tonga
lhamana of Zuni
winkte of Lakota
bakla of Philippines
acault of Burma
xanith of Oman
and waria of Indonesia
just to name a few
gender is as binary
as is the world is flat
asserting so otherwise
is simply spewing scat
Categories:
asserting, anti bullying, gender, world,
Form:
List
Toward God and His way to assured salvation
…affirming eternal power of regeneration
…asserting priceless redemption
…awakening through miraculous new creation…
His believers are we, trusting Him for our transformation!
Toward God by His Word that resounds His tender mercy
…refreshing souls with divine loving kindness and clemency
…rejuvenating spirits yearning for contentment sufficiency
…rekindling faith’s fervent fervency…
His followers are we, practicing His statutes’ policy!
Toward God Who grants pardon’s blissfulness
…directing us to confess our sinfulness
…demanding the need for worshipful earnestness
…disciplining disobedience through His righteousness...
His converts are we, casting to Him our haughtiness!
Toward God anchoring steadfastness upon His standard
…increasing effectiveness of each faithful steward
…insuring the diligent certainty of labour’s reward
…invigorating hope to keep on marching forward...
His servants are we, ushering the lost to His safeguard!
Toward God while walking along paths of wisdom
…bringing us to wondrousness of heavenly kingdom
…bracing our genuine altruism against selfish martyrdom
…beautifying character with patience midst spiritual boredom…
His seekers are we, triumphing in His truth-propped freedom!
Toward God as He leads us to His heart
…laying His perfect will upon our footsteps against temptation dart
…lightening vision to behold majestic eternity’s rampart
…lifting pursuits, surpassing worldly vanity start…
His learners are we, persevering to fulfill our devotion’s best part!
Toward God, admitting human flaws beseeching strength for rectitude
…satisfying our nourished well-being to exercise attitude of gratitude
…sanctifying conscience by wise admonitions surmounting vain platitude
…saturating us with His peace around prayer solitude…
His children are we, growing by grace for good testimony altitude!
*2Peter 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
April 12, 2021
4th place, "Where are we Headed" Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Unseeking Seeker; judged on 4/23/2021.
Categories:
asserting, appreciation, blessing, christian, faith,
Form:
Rhyme
Evoking sullen quests of a lonesome mind
She stepped outside under the starry skies
Only to find, one more time, no one replied
It was a vibrant sky celebrating moonlight
Wanting no part of her gloomy trespass
Jolting her entrance in thunderous clouds
Being self absorbed within grim thoughts
She rewrote the vows engraved in hearts
Ignoring sensuous past that longingly recalls
Refusing feelings that once she cherished
Courting indignation of a senseless voice
Asserting obliquely, she made her choice
Unwilling to acknowledge her cries forlorn
Silence she heard was the galactic response
Rejecting her plea to renegotiate what was
May 10, 2019
HM: Strand select M contest by Brian Strand
Categories:
asserting, emotions, love hurts,
Form:
Verse
December 26 Relationship to God Bible Meditations Based on Revelation 13-14
Key Verse – Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
LORD GOD, YOU ARE MY LABOUR AND WORK REWARDER
Lord God, You are my labour and work Rewarder,
asserting Your supreme authority
Thank You that You sustain me for my faith’s stability
With Your power over death’s infirmity…
Let me praise You with all my sincerity.
Lord God, You are my labour and work Rewarder,
affirming Your abundant grace
Thank You that You invite me to come to You without doubt’s trace
With Your leadership of eternal foundation-brace…
Let me honour You with my stewardship along Christian race.
Lord God, You are my labour and work Rewarder,
ascertaining Your revival fire
Thank You that You uphold me in my virtuous desire for which I aspire
With Your mercy and might that cannot retire…
Let me trust You along reliance You require.
Lord God, You are my labour and work Rewarder,
attesting Your loving fatherhood
Thank You that You keep me in Your redemption against religion’s falsehood
With Your precious seal for my sainthood…
Let me follow You as proof of my servanthood.
Lord God, You are my labour and work Rewarder,
accentuating Your perfect role
Thank You that You freed me from sinfulness-goal
With Your compassion toward eternal heavenly pole…
Let me worship You with all my being’s whole.
Lord God, You are my labour and work Rewarder,
acclaiming Your glorious presence
Thank You that You bless me along disciple’s license
With Your commandment’s incense…
Let me pray to You, beholding Your favour’s iridescense.
Lord God, You are my labour and work Rewarder,
articulating Your fruitful harvest
Thank You that You build me up for reaching-out zest
With Your commission toward ministerial crest…
Let me abide You and enjoy in Your fellowship’s nest.
December 26, 2023
Categories:
asserting, blessing, christian, faith, god,
Form:
Rhyme
As a father I’ve failed
I should have been jailed
My kids are not happy
The blame’s on their pappy
I pushed them too hard
left them with scars
On the surface they’re fine
underneath they are cryin’
If I only could've seen
what the future would’ve been
I’d have taken my foot off the pedal
and never have meddled
I'd have left things to mom
to the one who was calm
Instead of asserting myself
I'd have watched from the shelf...
But now I’m old and at home
and nearly alone
My kids, out of touch
I miss them so much
Categories:
asserting, children, father, feelings, loneliness,
Form:
Couplet
BLESSED DISARRAY!
There’s one thing that’s assured in this physical world
More than death and taxation so physicists say
It’s the increase in entropy, time unfurled
Or in other words there will be more disarray
Now I’m not being morbid asserting this fact
(Only true without man sticking long finger in)
And there are some of us with compulsion to act
And resist ineluctable chaos and spin
But imagine the converse some might choose to hold
Each atom in total controlled and neat stack
Every instant with utter precision pre-told
And announced in a modern Old Moore’s Almanac
There are days when we feel: Just a moment! Hold on!
Could I have some more predictability sure
I’ve enough of this chaos so let it be gone
And I’ll live more like my perfect neighbour next door
But then what of the thrill when we once get it right
No not every time; that’s for slaves not the free
The uncertainty principle kept in our sight
Will give us some relief from that old ennui
So join with me to now go forth boldly and say
That perfection unlimited with no adverse
And no portion of spices of disarray
That alternate bland menu could be but a curse
Categories:
asserting, humor,
Form:
Rhyme
Dawn iced the birdbath and crisped the sunless air
to show time for winter to claim its shivered share.
Indeed the season is born again anew
just like the ones as a boy I knew.
So it is with every season since planet’s birth.
Each comes again asserting its worth
and blessing during its stay Mother Earth.
This winter now upon me will be endlessly back
in perennial wave after wave
ages after snow first covers my grave.
Categories:
asserting, 12th grade, earth, winter,
Form:
Rhyme
My life boat has a motor and a sail.
I turn the engine on if zephyrs fail,
And stay the course, despite the turning tides,
Asserting that my vessel steady glides -
Free as a bird with one determined drill -
Common sense - my compass steered by will.
When under I go, feel free to speculate
Whether that was my predetermined fate!
September 20, 2020
Categories:
asserting, destiny,
Form:
Rhyme
The trees are too busy
losing leaves
or withdrawing deeper
into their winter selves
to notice me.
Clouds pass overhead
oblivious to my presence,
the wind detours around me
and carries on its way
as if I'm not there.
I mean nothing at all
to the river much less
the ocean. Butterflies
and birds ignore me
or keep their distance.
I'm treated as only a part
of an earthly whole.
That won't do.
Little do they know
they are paying a price
for their indifference
and reluctance to bend.
I am asserting
my god given right
of dominion
by slowly
killing them.
Categories:
asserting, earth, environment, pride,
Form:
Free verse
I know what it means
To go to bed without food
To go to school without shoes
To yearn for Eqaul Education
to free your mind
Just to be told you just can't handle
White education
Here's Bantu education for you
I know what Poverty is
I've lived it
I've smelled it
I've Breathed it
Yet never accepted it
Living in a town
with a twisted perverted mentality
That pinned up lil notices
That said:
This town is for white people only
Black dogs may enter through the back door
Because they are our servants
We are your masters
Permanently and perpetually
Using the Bible to take everything
A black man owns
Asserting,
If you accept God in your Life
He will come save you
During your time of need
But you shall not own this land because
God said I should be your Master
A town that still can't accept that
a black man is human too
Not some animal to be
Tarred, Feathered and hung up a tree to die
I've witnessed old wrinkled men
Bow Down with Surbodination
To call a little boy "Baas"
I've witnessed neighbors go dig
Their Loved ones out of the land
They once owned
Because the Master said
I don't want dead people on my Land
Your land?
Did u come carrying land in your boat
when you left The Dutchland?
Did u come carrying Gold,
Diamonds and Platinum
When u left England?
Is that why you feel obliged
to have the black man go down
the earth's pit to get your diamonds
so you can have a nice shiny Crown?
While he goes home
to a table with lil to no food?
Telling him you better not catch him
Walking around this town without
a Passbook,
That grants him that Privilege
I've got Fire in my Soul
Ignited only by true Virtue,
Liberation
I climb beyond human heights
I dare not to be just ordinary
I defy human Limitations
I've got Fire in my Soul
Ignited it burns
Explosive, Subversive
Never to be Subjugated
But Liberated within....
Categories:
asserting, africa, class, courage, growth,
Form:
Alliteration
Sub-atomic particles
the atoms they form
molecules, cell organelles
cells, machinery of life
organs, organisms
communities and ecosystems
planets, solar systems, galaxies
galactic clusters and their inverse
black holes the doors to other
universes, a contradiction
in terms.
For language and its shadow
consciousness must hold matter
the material world snugly inside concepts
theories and hypotheses to be
experimentally verified using vision
and the other senses, collecting data
and interpreting the known facts
accumulated over time.
Can matter
exist without a consciousness to behold it?
Believing in
our mortality (the species)
we have created God
(a supreme being)
probably not carbon-based
to encompass every universe
but is God
inside or outside
consciousness? Can God
tell us what to do
or must we tell God
alone
what to do?
Here is ego
projecting personality, exerting force
on community, asserting the existence
and predominance of component DNA.
An already hackneyed theory that DNA
survival drives
procreation, personality, savings bonds
everything but poetry (most poems included).
Mustache, cowboy hat
horse whisperer, gulag master
Odysseus, King Lear
salvation in the details.
Yes, these personalities individual and interesting
as opossum, bear
oak and ash
beech nut, pine cone
Grand Canyon sandstone, Green Mountain granite.
Categories:
asserting, community, earth, god, language,
Form:
Verse
If you’re living your life with a jealous wife,
And you are under her spell,
When a minute late well your weekly fate,
Is twenty-four seven in hell.
You will never find, just one peace of mind,
Unless there’s a friendly bar,
Even then you’ll groan when you hear the phone…
She’ll be looking for where you are.
I’ve been accused and I’ve been abused,
For imaginary fun that I’ve had,
I am her pet hate, and she’ll denigrate
To the point of overly mad,
Her deep desire is to stoke the fire,
Declaring that I am a liar,
When she takes note of a hair on my coat,
Asserting me into the mire.
For she’ll cause a scene on where I have been,
And who was I cheating with?
So I got to the state, I’d retaliate…
Her thoughts are a terrible myth.
But even though, her conjecture will grow
Downgrading the lot of us men,
Then she will swear, when she can’t find a hair,
That I’m dating bald women again.
Categories:
asserting, humor,
Form:
Rhyme
Meow
meaningfully echoes our unique distinction
making functional feline existence
mightily declaring our sacred raison d'etre
marvelously designed by the great Creator.
Meow! Meow! Meow!
Meow
magnifies the expression of what we are
moving us to communicate with others
mirthfully exposing our gladness
moods as well as anxieties.
Meow! Meow! Meow!
Meow
may be mystical to others
magical for pet lovers enthralled by our miracle-moans
mysterious among those puzzled by cat-behavior
meanwhile myth-filled vis-a-vis scientific management.
Meow! Meow! Meow!
Meow
maintains lofty order and integrity of our species
momentously asserting Felis catus' worth in relationship-mingling
majestic as mansion dwellers and palace guard keepers against mice
magnificently starring in movies where people learn from our mentorship.
Meow! Meow! Meow!
Meow
more than ever to our sacred society
mesmerizes humanity for our wondrous contributions
minimizes mankind’s misery with our stress-relieving music
most of all, praises God* Who is our Maker.
Meow! Meow! Meow!
Personification with alliteration
*Psalm 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
March 11, 2023
7th place, "The Sacred Meow Society" Poetry Writing Premiere Contest
Sponsored by Mystic Rose Rose; judged on 3/14/2023.
Categories:
asserting, animal, appreciation, blessing, cat,
Form:
Alliteration
Paranormal visions of flying unicorns
with wild and supreme handsomeness,
give a boost to my conscious animus...
asserting my manhood in every sense.
Then anima makes her appearance,
and dreams change color and shape;
the feminine aspect of sensibility
transforms my ego once so untamed,
so fearless of phantoms that cringed.
I shiver more than an helpless
woman who covers her hears
not to hear their frightful litany.
My perception of actual things
becomes more alluring than fancy;
I lose the sense of hard feelings...
as fantasy offers me a drink of oblivion,
and makes me explore a rendition
of what is contrary to my masculinity.
Categories:
asserting, conflict, dream, emotions, fantasy,
Form:
Rhyme
Awesome stars* are art works of the Almighty
Beauteous midst darkness, sparkling bright
Creation masterpieces supremely crafted
Designed perfectly to serve as eyes’ delights.
Extolling the grandeur of divine excellence
Firmament jewels driving astronomic flight
Galaxy ornaments that mystify constellation gazers
Heaven’s wonders are stars** for promises’ hoisting
Influence-compass intensifying travel-impact
Journey-leader to magi searching the King of kings with joy.***
Kindling reality-awakenings for inquisitive kids
Lights are the stars**** along truth-seeking luminescence
Marvels with wisdom-beam midst queries on magic or mystery
Night’s treasures as “diamonds in the sky” bringing wealth nigh
Opening opportunities to dream and soar with optimism.
Potential inspiration and muse source for poetry
Quiet, yet clear witnesses of victims in their justice-quest
Radiant gems to aspiring champions revealing rewards
Steadfast signs are assuring stars***** against skepticism
Testifying about timeless blessed celestial triumph.
Up above they are stars****** reflecting Christ’s glory ultimately
Victorious in asserting faith that vanquishes vain vision
Watchfulness they show, glowing for guided winning
‘Xcellence marks their illumining expertise surpassing any x-ray
Yes, they are shining in the Scriptures today and yon
Zealously gleaming and glaring with enlightenment’s zest.
*Genesis 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
**Genesis 15:5 … Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them…
***Matthew 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
****Jeremiah 31:35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth … the stars for a light by night
*****Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars.
******1Corinthians 15:41 There is … glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
March 18, 2020
“Double Abecedarian”
5th place, "A Star's Heartbeat" Premier Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Chantelle Anne Cooke; judged on 3/22/2020.
Categories:
asserting, appreciation, blessing, christian, faith,
Form:
Abecedarian