Best Balsams Poems
In neatly lined up pots in a row
Flaming red and purple balsams in clusters grow
A visual treat to adoring eyes
A haunt frequented by the bees
Do not need much care, but may fade
If not allowed a little shade
Flimsy they are of delicate stems
With light green leaves of serrated hems
Planted in my skilfully laid up yard
They invariably make me glad
Gleaming in the first rays of the sun
By their simple beauty, my heart they won
When the flowers wither, pods appear
In time, for self dissemination, they prepare
When fully ripe, the pods explode
And seeds fly as birdies from their nest to explore!
Thus Nature’s ways are so amazing
Even in plants is an inherent training,
For seeds to leave the comfort of their pods
And find their own space fighting all odds!
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June.2.2022
~Placed First~
Purple Flower Poetry Contest
Sponsor – Nayda Ivette Negron Flores
In tastefully lined up pots in a row,
Multi colored balsams in clusters grow.
A visual treat to adoring eyes,
But never a haunt frequented by bees.
Balsams do not need much care, yet may fade,
If not allowed a little shade.
Flimsy they are of delicate stems,
With light green leaves of serrated hems.
Growing in my neatly laid up yard,
They invariably make me glad.
Gleaming in the first rays of summer sun,
By their simple beauty, my heart they have won.
Unlike the charming red, red rose
Hardly any poet, on them, odes compose
They have no scent, yet as a colorful throng,
In my courtyard, proudly they belong
When the flowers wither, pods appear
In time for self- dissemination, prepare
When fully ripe, the pods explode
And seeds fly as birdies from their nest to explore!
Thus, Nature’s ways are so amazing
Even in plants there's an inherent training
For seeds to leave the comfort of their pods
And find their own space fighting all odds!
Jewels of Africa.
The saffron Queen spins the lilac sky,
her rays flick crimson cinders into Royal Blue Oceans.
Submerge, sizzle, frizzle...going, going, gone! ...But Not.
Cumulus clouds drizzle pepper fog over pink Flamingos, homeward bound.
Tea-green Botswana bush,
teeny, tiny Hummingbirds hover over brink-pink Balsams,
feast on elixir of nectar.
Royal Albatross rides the last whip of wind.
Sulking Stork swoops through veiled mists above marshy meadow ponds.
Sword sunbeams lash chrome, coppery twilight.
Mooned dusks, a violet cape cloaks bathing blooms.
Nightscape sky sparks, preparing morning’s thin blue...aurora hue.
Camouflaged branches stretch, tickle studded clouds
as ribboned roots cling to crevice homes.
A spook- silver ring appears from nowhere, pearling ripples aluminium.
Beams spill across the sea like lines of glittering fire.
Ethiopian wolves howl composed solos,
phantom echoes shudder Tarantula’s lair
as Flax Lily spurts scent...Frankincense and Lime.
Sultry Savannah’s secrets passed on by rhythmic lip-smacking Baboons,
cracking jokes in the knitted canopy,
teasing and tickling clowning Hyena’s below as
a blinkered platoon of Jet Wood Ants march to their Majesty.
Dawn draws indigo voiles over Nephthys, Goddess of Night
slashes of Sunrise surge shadows as the Bush Lark spangles jewels in the air.
The Alize wind dies in respect to heavenly panorama...
Mountains reflected, seen to be varnished into still, smalt-blue sea.
They didn't admit it
but I know what they saw.
I know about every horror,
I know about doubts and fears
and also about their pleasures,
their orgasms and their ecstasies
that led them to the gates of infernal madness.
An antithesis, I'd say, cruel agony full of candor.
I know what they felt
their essences, their insides
I know them to the core.
I know about their hands shaking
and about the cold sensation in their stomachs.
They are silent
but I know what they talked about;
flowers, seas, perfumes,
balsams and table delicacies,
smiles, strong colors,
beating hearts and joy.
About the newly born and about the "here lies,"
about huge storms
and endless doldrums.
All the heaven's angels and all their holy peace!
I know more!
I know about the loss of sleep,
the hopes of autumn swept away.
Blushing faces and sweaty hands
messy beds, flaming bodies
and abstractions described
by their vain philosophy.
I know about foggy eyes
about panting breath,
about laughing for no reason,
floating humors
changing the meaning
of what made sense
and of what had never made sense before.
Blood running hot in the veins
beautiful women looking ugly,
ugly women looking beautiful,
certainties and "who would say,"
the strong light of hanging oil lamps
the weak light of their days,
time eating candles,
spiders weaving cobwebs
and they falling into them.
They never confessed
but I know why they never disclosed
the cruel candor of this intense agony,
the eternal fire that cools every soul,
what cannot be understood or explained,
what provokes no fever but has no cure
and what guides and what drives them all
to that harsh and infernal door.
An antithesis, I'd say,
the peace of love and the hell of insanity!
"The summer night is still and sweet
With flowers on every tree
Peace comes to them on quiet feet"
Whose hearts, like sages, so free
Balsams just like purple-dark stars
Shining as though from the floor
Glowworm-bubbles as if from Mars
Knocking the night angels door
Mingled with the breeze so charming
Moody melancholic minds
Happiness-filled and hearts warming
Singing litanies of saints
Beggars, refugees, and dogs stray
Seem to sleep so peacefully
Somewhere in some land far away
Lullabies heard leisurely
01 June 2021
Choose Your Form 2 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Joseph May
How many times have I written of her glows!
Yet, the yearning to write more and more grows.
Forgotten feelings soon get a vent.
When I see the sprouts, in shyness, they are bent.
Ra.. ra.. ra.. ra.. la..la..la..la.. The scented breeze hums
Aromas of my favourite buds, blooms, and blossoms
Of tulips, hyacinths, lilacs, violas, and balsams
Creep and climb jasmines, sweet peas, and clematis.
Entwining them as though a long-lost kinship bliss
From far-off trees, jealously peep the envy-red plums.
Fruit flies, sand flies, blue bottle flies, and dragon flies
Commune, with multi-hued butterflies fluttering in the skies
Queen of the Night, Bird of Paradise, and Celandine Poppies
When secretly providing nectar to the worker bees
Where-from, to chill and thrill them, come these ice crumbs?