Best Banded Poems
There’s an old river course with beginning and end,
now the river runs straight without this river bend,
where the water is still and the reeds do grow strong.
New life has taken over in a billabong.
The mat rush is spreading replacing the sedge,
and old fallen gum trees lean in from the edge
creating a haven in the shelter below
for smelt or gudgeon, and the common minnow.
There’s a ring on the water, so danger is nigh,
and life is now over for one caddis fly.
Dragonflies hover on their predator flight,
so mosquito and midges best keep out of sight.
There is many a song around a billabong
to break up the still with an assembly throng
from birds of the forest, and wading birds too,
so the billabong offer is there to pursue...
... for blue heron and egret, coot and the teal,
and for the banded rail that the bulrush conceal.
In the billabong shadowed by gum and ti-tree,
bellbirds are tinkling; wattlebirds disagree.
An oft-diving grebe keeps on searching for food
for the striped downy chicks of its latest brood,
and a hunting kingfisher waits keen for its prey
from a twig of a gum tree it frequents all day.
There is many a scent around a billabong,
filling the air with the perfume quite strong,
from black wattle and mint bush, or mistletoe
cascading from gum trees where only they grow.
Painted lady butterfly flit upon flowers,
and blue banded bees keep on working for hours
on lilies and orchids, heath, sweet appleberry
and clusters of flowers on a native cherry.
Ribbon weed, nardoo spread out in the shallow,
with buttercup, duckweed; an introduced mallow,
struggling for survival near the water line,
aiding coral pea that does lightly entwine.
The banks of a billabong are dangerous too
with predator snakes not so often in view,
but they are aware, that the growling grass frog
will climb from the water onto an old log.
But tigers and copperhead, red-bellied black
often lay in the sun on an overgrown track,
where the wombat or wallaby travel along
to graze on native grasses near the billabong.
So life still carries on around the billabong
where water looks stagnant, a bond is still strong
with a river now rushing it’s way to the sea,
past the billabong living, where the course used to be.
A lean coyote chases a hare through
heat of desert winds. His swift doe
darts past my boots. They've managed
to escape, this time. He'll lead the chase
away another day.
I pause to watch the side-winder as he
considers a kangaroo rat, before moving
on between two century plants to a
rock ledge nearby. The tidy yellow rat
continues eating seeds, gleaning moisture,
never needing to sip drink in this dry
yet vibrant land.
The cactus wren with spotted breast
sits atop a prickly pear. The gilded
flickers' rosy cheeks and banded wings
are a colorful reminder of the beauty
I find out here. Their sturdy tails prop
them upright against a great saguaro,
carving out a hole for nest.
I crunch the tangy bulb of a white
desert lily whose green tendrils curl
on the ground. And here, as evening
cools walking back to my new home,
a silver moon illuminates my path. I
glory in this wondrous desert scene.
Aussie Roulette
50 years ago we had a sport
Of the deadly dangerous sort
Fight a Tiger snake just one
Quick as lightning in the sun
Used just once a post hole shovel
6 foot long was the handle
Running barefoot with the Tiger
Banded black n brown, a gamble?
Adrenaline ignites, terrifys!!!
Up the handle 5 foot tries
3 strikes each the 5 foot bugger
Deadly battle, won another
Fang marks on the handle sit
Near my hand where he had bit
Don’t fight old Tiger he may win
Stupidity it is a sin!
Don Johnson
Hindsight says don't play with snakes.
My Tiger was launching 5 foot all his body at me, incredible because he was
racing alongside me at the time.
There once was, a Miss. Communication
With pleasure she loved to communicate
Writing of love and the wonders of life
Her passion extreme and never sedate
Those afraid, of Miss. Communication
For she expressed herself with all her might
They banded together, to make their point
Miss Took, Mr. E and yes Mr. Right
Sadly the Kingdom, fell into darkness
For not a single note flowed from her throne
The sound of her music, could not be heard
Miss Communication sad and alone
So the town people, gathered together
Including, one who was Miss. Understood
We looked to her, in hopes of an answer
As she strummed on her harp made out of wood
Miss. Communication, rose to the call
For in the end she knew they were all friends
Because with passion, sometimes lines are crossed
Miss. Communication, never pretends
She felt real joy and her pen regained strength
Entering again, into the land of dreams
For within, our miscommunications.
It's true, nothing is ever as it seems!
Events of the last few days have left me feeling sad.
Things said that have left people I care about hurt.
Misunderstood people on different sides that are
really in the end not so different from each other.
Reconciliation comes from listening, in the end
each of us is looking for a place to belong and be
appreciated. Let us choose to act with gentle hearts
and kind words. Being loving is a greater cause than
being right.
ON RESCUING AN INJURED PIGEON
I.
sliding screen door screeches, pigeons scatter
thump of wing against breast, shockwave breeze
more frequent than in the past, shimmering necks
soundtrack squirrel zig-zags, new-green lawn
perches like the pigeons, await my departure
II.
he appeared in the night, a tattered statue
grey as the rumbling skies, white patch on his back
must be hurt, too painful to move, teal collar
my compassion swells, how can I help?
leave him seed and water, natural healing
III.
red-toed demon leaving bird-turd on my deck
can barely walk let alone fly away, railing perch
rain or sun sits most of the day, ruffled feathers
hit his head or fallen, maybe a scuffle with a cat
wants to be part of a flock, I move closer
IV.
day three I made him a coop, Bucky by name
Becky if it’s a girl, I’m not checkin’, won’t go in
moving better, flies a little, short bursts
still prefers my perch, watch him sleep, still
hours to days, nothing seems to change
V.
the four-legged’s have found the coop and feed
I become my grandmother chasing chipmunks, futile
Bucky likes grass, hacksaw walk, double-banded
looks strong enough to fly, abandoned racer
wonder, is it psychological or could it me?
VI.
trail of seeds brought him to the edge, coop and me
as I watch him he watches me, wide ruddy eyes
huddles in a ball on one foot, freckled vest
finally, twice today he found his way to the coop
sad he can’t go home, sheltered but dispossessed.
VII.
animal rescuer Howard came with a net today
tried clumsily to catch him, lift and accelerate
over the treetops he flew, circled back to land
from the rooftop he smiled down at us, relieved
proof time heals all wounds, in rock pigeon world.
Aug 30/18
Hope and
Hold the dream
Or you will die fast
Life is the name of-
struggling frantic procession, chaotic crowd,
lunatic tsunami of the ocean, scream on the
broken coast, scorching sunlight, ghostly
thunderstorm, corpse lines for covid-19,
war face of country to country, scenery of poverty,
where you can lose yourself unanimously
So, hold the dream fast or you will die easily
Life is the name of-
winter shawl of father, prayer-mat of mother,
morning tea time of spouse, child’s undue demands,
beautiful dawn of dewdrops, songs of flying birds,
autumnal sun, Buddhist full-moon, love at first sight,
elopement flight, honeymoon night, smiles in bridal bower,
where you can lose yourself without a true life’s fair
So, hold the dream fast or your will die with vanity care
Life is the name of-
a poetry, mixed up poetry morning, sipping tea through
the gap of poet’s eyeglass, benumbed body of the newspaper
on the corridor’s table, banded together bathing of ducks,
velvet touching of blooming flower, reddish sky canvas of twilight,
lights of the evening lamp, prayer of crickets in deserted room,
where you can lose yourself in self-indulgence dome
So, hold the dream fast or your will die without wisdom
They say, "poet lives in future, the reader in present and critic in past"
I say, "live in truth with hope, hold the dream and care the dream fast"
©Mahtab Bangalee
Chattogram
09/11/2022
The glide of the plane almost in step with my rooftop.
Visibility of blue heaven low; lookout for earthwalkers.
My bland Toyota euphoric and banded by tight forest.
The span of an angelic chorus, a serendipitous psalm.
The predilection of dawn, a tributary hawk sails on.
The silver cross shimmies and shakes reflected in mirror.
I steady it with my heartbeat, my smile, my faith.
9/25/2020
Kananaskis is
four-fifths a line of haiku
Kananaskis is
With spring’s sudden warmth
serial avalanches thunder
one triggers the next
Winter’s snow melting
laughing, leaping, running to
valley far below
Green slopes banded red
dying lodgepole pine, memories
of last year’s Chinook
Golden larch quivers
as the first storm of winter
passes close tonight
As a boy, I came
to know this quiet valley
father's special place
Leaving highway to
where mountains reach to heaven
we drove the stone road
Fishing beaver ponds
dad came on bees, lost his specs
on return just bees
One night as we camp
a timberwolf comes to call
returns to dark night
On the upper lake
clouds mask the solar eclipse
but fish go crazy
One spring’s discovery
drawdown pools, teeming with trout
who won’t touch anything
A five pound rainbow
beached chasing Peter’s lure
red stripe - jealousy
Late autumn, Lake B
big browns cruise downwind beaches
only we know where
A ski resort appears
wonderland needs paved roads
we protest in vain
Twenty years later
returning with my children
to an unknown place
If you slow to look
irate traffic leans on horns
rushing to their lodge
My kids and I fish
a borrow pit now a“lake”
tourists' put and take
To a grizzly bear
roads are barriers wider
than flooding rivers
Kananaskis is
four-fifths a line of haiku
Kananaskis is
MM
Throughout history from time to time, our country has gone to war;
they called upon our brave young men to enlist and join the corps.
Some of the men were called by draft; while some enlisted on their own.
They displayed their courage, in either case, and made their presence known.
With the colonists discontent in ‘75 the American Revolution began;
the brave young men fought the British for the right to claim their land.
Over restricted trade rights in 1812, we went to war with Britain once again;
with much of the war, against their strong navy, fought on the bounding main.
The Spanish American War began in 1898 with the sinking of the Maine
The American victory gave Cuba its freedom from the mighty Empire of Spain.
Teddy Roosevelt and his brave Rough Riders charged up Kettle Hill;
The battle cries of the brave young men surely gave the Spaniards a chill.
The sinking of the Lusitania in 1917 brought us into World War I,
and the presence of our brave young men was felt before the war was done.
Our troops with “Black Jack” Pershing at the helm, into the war were lead,
and soon the German army knew, on the Americans they would not tread.
With Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in December of ‘41,
Uncle Sam once again called its young men to gather and take up their guns.
From the sands of Iwo Jima to the beaches of Normandy,
they banded together and fought with great valor and won their victory.
Vietnam was a different kind of war, fought by the boomer generation;
And when the war was done the men came home facing an ungrateful nation.
They had banded together and bravely fought and 58,000 died,
and the brave men came home to an unruly mob, a nation with no pride.
If there a common thread in all of our wars, it’s the bravery of our young men;
they answered the call to take up arms time and time again.
They distinguished themselves as they fought with valor, many of them died,
and in our country we have lived in peace and that cannot be denied.
And to the brave men who gave their lives, we will be eternally indebted.
We will never forget what they did for us, their memories forever respected.
The bible passage from the Book of John, brings us to this end;
“Greater love has no man than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.”
Beyond five-color-banded rainbow is fairyland
nestled deep in fragrant flowered valleys.
Comforting breezes flow when giant wings expand
flying baby blue skies over gumdrop alleys.
Sweet confetti sprinkle marmalade mountain peaks
towering high above cotton candy clouds.
Cool chocolate milk flows through giant rivers and creeks
snaking its way amidst huge ravenous crowds.
Warm gingerbread houses line fairyland hamlet
tucked away near dark-fudge-mud-cake talus.
It rains sugar crystal tears without getting wet
however; mint green grass grows regardless.
Fairies travel miles to turn teeth into money
do so more often to add a big smile.
Although they look and dress kind of funny
their sure kindness never runs out of style.
Not everyone is a fairy in fairyland
sprouting wings is very hard to achieve.
One must be gentle and have a kind hand
but most of all, they must believe.
Copyright © 2011 By Caryl S. Muzzey
Third Place Winner ~ "Land of Faries” Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Leighann Anderson
Aug. 8, 2011
On my way to the Phillipines
A mirror of blues and greens
Before the bow a Dolphin glides
With such ease the sea it rides
Starboard and port, islands calm
Golden sands and hanging palm
All dylic before the eye
Shimmer soft in hazy sky
Across the calm the seabirds lie
Flying fish dart, catch the eye
Seasnakes squirm with banded rings
Jellyfish trail their poisnous stings
And the lookout keeps a dilligent eye
For fishing boats , how flat they lie
Driftwood from a storm passed by
Or Lobster pots that lowly lie
Onwards steadily through the isles
Lay the deck as the sun it whiles
Only the sound of the passing wake
And a cooling breeze to partake
Onboard an armed gunboat bound
for Cebu, coming back a different
story.
I researched the earth's endangered species list and this is what I found.
There's everything on the list from A to Z - rare species just abound!
I'll highlight some of the more interesting varieties just to name a few,
That creep and crawl amongst us in this world-wide conglomerate zoo!
There's the Red-bellied Grackle, Pig Footed Bandicoot and Aquatic Rat;
Paraguana Mustached Bat, Zanzibar Guitarfish and the Andrean Cat!
A rare Whiskered Flower Pecker, Canarian Shrew and Amaragosa Vole,
A Peruvian Climbing Mouse, African Wild Ass and an Arend's Golden Mole!
Also listed were the Aruba Island Rattlesnake and the Okinawa Rail,
The Western Wattled Cuckoo Shrike and the Rolling Pebblesnail.
Something called the Philippine Warty Pig and the African Wild Dog,
And a Red-collared Mountain Babbler plus a Tanzanian Screeching Frog!
I also found a Banded Wobblegong and a reptile called a Bailey's Snake,
A Cameroon Clawless Otter and something called a Band-bellied Crake!
How about the Concave-eared Oderous Frog or an Eastern Bristlebird,
The Charming Thicket Rat, Common Yobby or a rare Dahl's Jird!
Some folks may find some redeeming value having these critters in our midst,
And I suppose to a certain degree we must learn with them to coexist.
But more importantly, if humankind can't learn in peace on earth to dwell,
We *****sapiens could end up on the endangered species list as well!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
(© All Rights Reserved)
Placed No. 7 on Amy Green's "Ode To The Endangered" Contest - June 2010
Mad shadows dance in the corners of my room
See them sink like paint into the walls
Hellfire! If they had caught me unawares
Where’s the game in that, my friends, I’d be dead but
I have eyes in the back of my head.
All shades have names, and histories, too
Once crouched like me in shells banded by light,
All definition’s now gone, sparest contrast, and color
Imperceptible new moon black, ultraviolet, infrared…I know, for
I have eyes in the back of my head.
Ragged words, a crone’s alkaline snicker,
What do they know, what have they learned, what secrets
Have they witnessed with a hanging jury’s bored deliberation
Though I have smoked their schemes, in my dreamless bed
I have their eyes on the back of my head.
A glazed view, as through a glass that magnifies
Between the granite banded with blue and umber
Cruel paths of glacier, ancient swords of hunger
Deeply carved a threshold one can hardly grasp
Each turn of compass, leaves a gasp
Forever brings our talking to a halt
Green rivers whipped to white by waterfalls
How gaunt the pines climb high upon the ridge
Itself, a place exempt from time
Justifies belief of Godly kind
Keeping watch above a valley floor
Looming monoliths of ancient lore
Morning bright of shimmering brooks that flow
Next brings winter breezing through the mind
Ours the privilege of beholding
Past and futures coming here together
Question not the overwhelming wonder
Relished eyes behold the truthful splendor
Saturates the heart and soul forever
That if one stands too long within such glory
Under white peaks and folklore stories
Varying degrees of speechlessness and thrill
With sun above, and human form so small
Xanadu is not of fiction, it is real
Yosemite, this place, this land of royal grace
Zenith, this land of majesty, my eyes and heart embrace
________________________________________________________________________
Inspired by Deborah Guzzi's contest: "Do You Know Your A B C s?"
Dedicated to My Dad....Where he spend his childhood
Once they walked many parts of this land
A people tall and tanned
They travelled along lines of song
Together banded by brother and sister strong
Their language bares the scent of their soul
In rock art lining walls of ancient water holes
It speaks through spirits of ancestor’s old
Fragrant of Country so olden, before even dreamtime stories told
A soul descendant from Wadjina
Bonded inextricably to land and culture
The creator of Country, of woman and man
It whispers between cathedrals of rock
Soulful ghosts - protector of past and present
Through their ceremonies
The young one’s listen through eye’s bold
Watching shadows dance round camp fire told
The scent of their soul
It lingers in the dust
In the ashes
In the creeks
It reeks of treachery past
A colonial collision
A mismatch of missions
Some stand up and listen
Others drown Christened
It’s time to give in to worry
It’s time to say sorry...
18 Oct 2014