Best Balking Poems
l.
Opening the closet of narra doors, I sweep through
organza skirts and gemmed ringlets; my hair
ruffling aimlessly upon scalloped kerchiefs
smelling decade - old hyacinth, Mom’s favorite
ambrosia: she would lift her anklets
in tiptoed hums, ”night and day, you are the one..”
Evenings touched her candle hands; hands
that soothed wounded knees from jackstone fights;
her fingers caressing a pony -tailed girl’s wrath
with piano keys rippling into a gentle moan;
“night and day you are the one…”
And i am delivered from my tempestuous rants.
ll.
From nowhere, the porcelain mirror gazed at me;
her rhythm of silence billows, cradling my nights
with each veil of her almond eyes
that enter into my irises: a serene sight
too close, much too tight I clung to her unspoken word.
Through years, I grew like a bamboo shoot: her quiet smiles
and music walked me through reality’s maze.
And how I would wail bearing the grim of hard study,
coughing late, late hours of reading toil…yet,
she stayed like a moth with charm flushed
in a wind of calm gaze, ebbing .
lll.
And only Mom could melt my temper
when my raging soul paused to wonder
at her light’s glow: oh, her feminine beat illumined
more lamplights dancing inside this rebellious head…
and now, she hovers around me.
I become her eyes, chanting, “night and day,
you are the one” ; never balking at my surreal conquests.
She is gone bequeathing warmth into my torched flights
without question; with much love dripping
from her graceful movement, straying all through
these my breaths: “night and day, you are the one…”
Best Sad Poem Ever Contest of Laura Loo
Resubmitted 8/28/2016
The feline is stalking
without any talking;
her silhouette walking
in temptation.
On prowl she is searching
for someone who’s lurching,
or prey that is perching
in frustration.
Her raven hair shining;
her looks so refining;
her thoughts are designing
on sensation.
Her green eyes are peering
with looks that are leering
for someone appearing
in fixation.
At last her eyes spying
a vision complying;
a gentleman trying
for flirtation.
Exchange of small talking
without any balking,
and off they go walking:
culmination.
The Balking Mire of Fanghandrath
‘Twas late when the misted veils
Suck and drew
‘pon the reeking fetters of claxon screams
Wailing echoed dismal to
Too late for lantern to pick a path
In the trickster passages
Of the boggish marsh
The Balking Mires of Fanghandrath
Where ‘oer the shake-ed sheaves domain
The Shadow Hunter was know to claim
The souls of less fortune given men
Or the eyes of the innocent
Aye ! They told the story well
Should the hunter of shadows
‘pon your path befall
would devour all in The Balking Mires of Fanghandrath
But needs must some they need
To prove their bravery
Of foolish men never seen again
Returning from the trickster paths of Fanghandrath
Of one such a man who’s courage by beer
Was made stalwart young and without fear
Through the haunted waste he dared to travel
When the misted veils suck and drew
Not yet half way there before the chill ate his bones
And from the rear the rushing fear
Did The Shadow Hunter draw ‘pon his heart
In noisome fog the Rake appeared
Too far to hear the sounds of screams
Too lost in the mazes of dead beaten reeds
To mouth-less to utter a prayer
And beseech the fate of balking mires
No wind it was the laugh, the laugh of Fanghandrath
The hunger of its desolate seed
To feed ‘pon the soul
Of innocent and less fortune given men
‘Twas not till dawn when he reached the rim
Ashen grey his youth had gone
And no shadow did he cast in morning sun
No shadows fall on The Balking Mires of Fanghandrath
A cool caliginous
night
Crickets in their abode
talking
A desolate street with no
lights
A doddering man
balking
Soon dusk kisses
dawn
Birds are out
chirping
The sun is shining and the curtain
of night has drawn
The exuberance of girls
playing
Sitting back and laughing
at the masses,
I could not have planned it any better.
Social chaos rains down on the privileged.
Constantly balking at the system,
I dare play a game that I control.
Sensing that I will never be accepted,
I push the envelope to further annoy the man.
Not a friend of the norm,
Society frowns at every move I make.
Why do they question everything I do?
Perhaps speaking my mind scares them.
Lashing out at the political figure heads
sparks the debate throughout dinner.
The sheeps of society turn their backs.
Social chaos rains down on the privileged
In the Shadow of Sunlight
It is one of those glaringly bright days that
make your eyes water painfully.
You can't see everything at once but in short glimpses and peeks. Between blinks, half an image forms, blurry around the edges.
You raise your hand as a shield, squint, lean back and tuck your chin, grimacing.
You thought you heard her say your name.
Searching in stuttering snatches,
Looking in limping lunges…
like a slow motion film in staccato strobes.
She begins far away but ends close, so close that her form blocks you from the light and you see her as the shadow of sunlight. She is glowing around the edges like a phantom.
She is smiling into your eyes for a moment.
The relief of sight, of cool darkness, and then gone in a flash of brilliance once again. Balking, you ask her to wait! Wait just a second! Why do your ears depend so much on your eyes? She speaks but without seeing her mouth forming words you're unsure of what she's said…dissipating as she goes anyway until only a whisper.
“I love you darling…”
And that's when I wake up and remember she is gone. Gone for just over 20 years now. An ache in my stomach and tears prick my sleep swollen eyes. I turn to my side and tuck my hand under the pillow…try to get back to my dream.
Sometimes it is the light that blinds us to the truth and darkness that soothes the burn.
If the Result is Insult:
Rethink that course of thought!
For what can lead to the Heart's revolt
Is not the path I sought...
Wayward walking; trouble stalking
(When one lets loose their tongue!)
I can accept the poets' balking-
At least, when I cease to run,
And stop to take ownership
Of all the mistakes I've made
Vacation for my guilty trip-
As I apologize today
*Submit a Smile Contest Entry
~JustThatArchaicPoet aka Chan :)
I know what I’m doing is right
Not like I’ll be gone every night
The cupboards are bare
No one seems to care
Each time I find work it’s a fight
I wish I could change my life course
Not balking nor having remorse
All methods I try
It still makes me cry
When I ponder my enemy source
I sort out my problems in vain
Revealed on my face my disdain
It’s not worth the stress
I have to confess
Uncertainty drives me insane
Randy Steele
"Me Against Myself" contest
June 28, 2011
DURHAM BULLS
A triple-A minor league team,
most remember Bull Durham the movie.
I, the most spectacular firework set,
in the stormy sky. The kind of lightening show,
I think I shall never see again. The stands erupted
with screams and yells
“Chicken! Chicken! Chicken”
Well, we are in the South, with their choice of entertainment.
Looking left and right, wondering at the uproar.
The ground wet, the sky still, a mini diamond
for a balking bird, a mascot of sorts,
running bases, while the crowd cheers.
The game back on, after sweeping away flood waters.
Every home run produces red eyes and a snort, steam
aggressively fighting from the nostrils of the famous bull.
My young nephew,
proudly walks away with a team jacket.
Whether the game was won or lost, I don’t remember,
except we had such fun. Our American past time,
memories last forever.
2/21/2017
sunshine
blue skies
thrilled as
temps rise
thirty-
seven
feels like
Heaven
house-bound
no more
fun plans
in store
stretching
walking
no more
balking,
for the
weather
holds no
tether
February 3, 2023
written for Brian Strand's Contest 1180 placed 4th
nothing is beautiful more than smile
without it seems to be statue like
though always not come from heart
makes face glorious so needs to strike
smile can be made available
in giving to others there's no expense
sometimes calms down enemy's anger
sends away of unknown person's tense
it helps to decline heart's burden
makes sweet words without talking
being of smiley faces let's do something
no need to be miser without balking
I know a man
I know a man with a busy mouth
No idea goes in that doesn't come out
You know he's close by towards you walking
The words pour out as he enters talking
I know a man who'll talk you to death
You find yourself praying for your own last breath
Doesn't he see that inside I'm balking
My face must show and still he is talking
I know a man who wants me to know
That someone said something to someone back home
These ears need rest somehow it's shocking and
Hard to believe he even leaves talking
September 16 2016
Whatever
By Rick Rucker
My Love often says “Whatever,” the rest I don’t have to hear,
What she really means is: “Whatever you say, Dear,”
Which is merely current speak for:
You are really starting, to me, bore!
She isn’t saying that she is mad,
Just too much discussion we have had,
That instead of to continue talking,
I had better think about balking!
That if I don’t want to say “Ouch,”
From the pain of sleeping on the couch,
On the current subject, from talking, I should refrain,
Unless, from lovemaking, I wish to abstain!
Former CIA Director
John Brennan scathing headlines
Washington Post op-ed sharply
published critical accusations
muted excoriation slams
Commander in Chief
volcanic blatant pathological lying
spews like lava his American
foreign policy boilerplate brazenly
bastardizes by banditry blueprint,
balefully balkanizing beautiful bracketed
booming brady bunch brand,
bests best-buy buffer braking balanced
bastion, bolstered beloved benighted
bequeathed bicameral bipartisan bliss,
Baptizing bacchanalian buffoonish bombast,
betokening bobble-headed Bumstead,
barmy bartered bride bravado, bizarrely
brash brassiness, blindsiding behavior,
beetlebrowed bonehead, bafflingly baldfaced,
bankrupting, blithely bollixing,
bombastically belittling, badmouthing,
banally blasting, banana-boat baseless,
bearish blandishments, beastly boastful
boosterism, bellicosely boorish, bug-eyed,
bighearted, bigoted blathering breeding
blunderbuss bloopers, bewildering
bloodletting bellyache blight,
brazenly being bandying bellwether,
blitzing bourgeoisie balderdash,
balking but beaming barbaric
berserk ballyhoo backbiting,
backslapping backstabbing
blacklisting bromides,
besetting basic bestowed blooming,
Bobbitizing bedeviling beneficial
bulwark bereft badinage, ballistically ballooning
betrayal birthing bedlam.
Then void the footprints so demur,
wherein once walking, my feet pure
now doomed to stalking, faith as cure
the vise I deemed as caulking, minus stir ~
My country, silence balking
truth to serve
retreat while there is lacking
moment's lure!
What then is counteracting
what reserve
the led are never leaders
pretense verve!
To keep thy promise keeping
keep your nerve
you backed away my seeking ~
. . . . . with conserve!