Best Been Poems
These eyes have often been solaced
by twilight's cotton candy pllows moving silently
towards a sky's velveteen blanket
and angels'silver gowns
By gazing over hills
to where old country church bells
and crickets play harmonious sounds
These eyes have often been solaced
by honey coloured shadows
pouring moonlight zest
across the rose plum of my cheek
By little antique lamplights
which illuminate my soul 's dark cobbled street
By winds carrying sea-salts to a fragrant golden sand
By tides washing out corals to a distant land
These eyes have often been solaced by your return
to this vacant room inside my heart
By the hush hushed whisper of your voice
By the embrace of your arms
By the way you love me
By the way you need me
By the way you want me
Like an autumn bonfire
before next sunrise'dew fall
By the way you lean on me
I have been to places of great death:
walking the battlefield at Gettysburg,
as a lusty young man of no firm belief
who stepped between the great rocks
of Devil's Den and felt his soul shudder
as though he had been a soldier there,
and died in fear a long, long time ago.
I taught my tongue to the gentle Khmers
as civil war raged and the killing fields
were being sown-- I left before the
heartless murdering began, the killing
of over a million: teachers and students,
doctors and peasants, the old, the young,
each with a photo taken before dying,
their images taped to classroom walls.
And when I visited Hiroshima, now myself
chastened by death's touch, and knowing
my soul real, knowing of meaning absolute
and of unseen forces working good or ill,
as I stood at the first ground zero, I once
again shuddered to feel the pull of madness
(though I knew not if it was my own or some
remains of that evil which brought the fire
and brimstone of a world wide war...).
But by then I knew I could pray, and so
opened my desperate heart and sought
His mercy. Suddenly I saw a sort of angel
who took me from that place of insanity,
healing me while we wandered by the
beauty of the Inland Sea as my storm
calmed and left me, never to return....
I have been to places of great death, and
I have felt death's cold, careless hands.
Yet now I know what death itself fears:
the Light, the light eternal which carries
souls beyond time itself, like the winds
of a Love exceeding all understanding.
Since you’ve been gone….
The flowers have lost their color
The sun refuses to give its light
The moon weeps in her sorrow
And days have turned into night
Since you’ve been gone
Since you’ve been gone…
The birds sing a mournful requiem
The wind moans at the windowsill
The sea threatens and billows
The starlight has grown suddenly dim
Since you’ve been gone
Since you’ve been gone…
My world has crumbled down
The people laugh at my pain
My strength has withered away
My tears mix with the rain
Since you’ve been gone
Since you’ve been gone
I’m haunted by the beauty of your smile
I count the endless seconds and days
I moan your name to my bedroom walls
I wander around in an endless maze
Since you’ve been gone
Nothing, no nothing has been the same…
Since you’ve been gone
Eileen Manassian
Circa 1991- 1992
I know there are some changes that need to be made to this, but I wanted to share this with you as I wrote it when I was about...24ish. I wrote it for my then boyfriend who is now my husband. He is the only man who has ever made love to me. I've known him since we were 12....
Little lights begin to shine
Tiny heartbeats in the dark
With a glowing hope inside
To shine brighter than the stars
But their possibilities.....
Suddenly come to an end
Echoing in their silent screams
All they could have been
I see a doctor, I see a preacher
A loving nurse...A home school teacher
A little boy rounding third base
That home run smile all over his face
They would change the world we're living in
If only they could be.....
All they could have been
We explain it all away
A thousand reasons for their fall
But they can never be replaced.....
Listen close....and hear the call
'To welcome all the angels
Heaven chose to send....
Let all God's children be
All they could have been
I see a priest...a president
The hands of an artist...a pilot's accent
Mom's joyful tears--graduation day
As her baby girl walks 'cross the stage
Yes, they would change the world we're living in....
If only they could be.....
All they could have been
Just a chance to be....
All they could have been
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These eyes have often been solaced by purple hues of twilight dust
moving silently over my life ,Sprinkling pure bliss from an edgeless painter's sky
These eyes have been solaced by gazing over cedar scented hills
By soft lulling sounds of water from rustic Tuscan mills
These eyes have been solaced by Composing stars that waltz in silver gowns
above old village 's church bells , and crickets 'harmonic sounds
These eyes have been solaced by honey nutmegged shadows
poured from luna' s tangy crest across my rose blushed cheek
By little antique lamp lights , which illuminate my soul's dark cobbled street
By winds carrying sea-salts to unwalked settling sand
By tides washing out corals from a distant land
These eyes have often been solaced by his return
to this vacant room inside my heart
By the calling of his arms that held me from the start
These eyes have been solaced by the way he loves me , by the way he needs me
by the way he fades away,Like the last bonfire before an early rain
By the way He stirs old embers inside each burning flame
By the way He leaves , by the way He turns, to lean on me again.
I'd like to give...a quiet shout
To all my friends...'been down and out
Life gets better...there's no doubt
I pray that you'll...get through
I'd like to give...a voiceless say
To all my friends...'been feeling gray
Must try to start...a brand new day
There's so much more...to do
I'd like to ring...a cordless line
Hope you've all...'been feeling fine
To all our friends...yours and mine
I've sent a prayer...for you
I'd like to write...a simple poem
By chance your ill...'been sick at home
There's others...you are not alone
There were others that...I knew
I'd like to hum...to those with wings
To those who've passed...'been given wings
I've felt your pain...and it still stings
I cried the day...you flew
As we age we regret words of anger and spite
That were heard and remembered and can't be unsaid.
The remarks we thought clever or proved we were right
That resulted in losses of friendships instead.
All the heartbreaks that came from suspicion and doubt,
The betrayals and hurts we refuse to forgive,
The companions and love that our pride has cast out,
And the chances we missed that we'd like to relive.
All the pathways not taken and bridges uncrossed,
All the times had we acted, a difference made,
The potential delights that timidity lost,
And the kindness and debts that we never repaid.
All the secret dishonors we long to forget,
And the wrongs we inflicted in order to win.
For the strongest of sorrows are those of regret,
And the saddest remembrance is what might have been.
* * * * *
Or as Whittier phrased it, far finer and first:
"For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
the saddest are these: It might have been"
I've lived where orange blossoms fall
and flutter on the streets of Spain.
In Germany I've seen the wall,
and snow-capped mountains from the train.
I've known Bahamas' sunlight gleam
where palm trees shift in sultry air,
but Africa, exotic dream—
imagination takes me there.
I see the restless plains that stretch
to meet the blue, forever sky,
alive with teeming herds that sketch
a savage scene in my mind's eye.
I picture people, tall and proud,
whose ancestors have braved this land,
and tamed a wilderness, unbowed
by flooding, droughts, and burning sand.
And in this dream, white jasmine sends
a honeyed scent that hangs and bathes
the senses where the blue grass bends
to spice the air in pungent swathes.
At sunset, coral streamers drape
across horizon's purple bars,
and nighttime spreads its velvet cape,
bejeweled with half a billion stars.
I live in North America—
so cool and tame everything seems!
I've never been to Africa,
but I have seen it in my dreams.
(Coming Back Home)
Crimson sunsets trickled beyond the moor
Opulence of one’s youth a mindset forever stays,
Miracle of homely birthplace the lure
Inspired by non-forgotten special days.
Neon lights above the door lost their glitter
Garish gowns grew tired torn and tatty,
Bothersome marriage a divorce turned bitter
Asylum that sends a sane person batty.
Calling out aloud in hope a childhood listens
Kindred spirit says let the passing of time begin,
Heart and mind to put behind all that glistens
Oh, and the carousel of show biz and the spin.
Memories are many so are the steps to climb
Epic journey the apex or slippery slope for a dime.
© Harry J Horsman 2021
Ink of my skin doesn't define me,
nor does it construe my poetry.
There's never been a time I didn't love you.
No time at all, and foolish as it seems,
No day goes by when I'm not thinking of you,
No night when you don't occupy my dreams.
Too young, I fell in love with love's illusion;
Naïve to think that such a dream could last.
I know I should dismiss my heart's confusion,
Move on with life, stop living in the past.
They say the first love is the best remembered,
Time heals all wounds, and broken hearts will mend.
Perhaps there'll come a time when I don't love you,
Perhaps that's when eternity will end.
It’s been a while
I know your need
I read your smile
The way you breathe
The style you brush
Across my skin
The tone your words
Begin and end
The romantic feel
Of every move
Your manly hands
Our tongue and groove
It’s been a while
I released my guard
Clinching counter
Viewing yard
You explored
I didn’t flinch
Lips to skin
Inch by inch
We went away
Just us two
you swept me up
And saw it through
Palm to thigh
Thumb caressing
Becoming anxious
You undressed me
One by one
Each button and strap
You, the compass
I, the map
It became too much
For the kitchen
To our bed
You lured me in
Feeling sexy
It’s been a while
I can’t keep quiet
This night is wild
My bottom lip
Your hot tattoos
I’m ready for you
I’m letting loose
Like a glove
I hold you tight
You push it deeper
To my delight
And when you think
To pull it back
I grasp your hips
And give no slack
Now in sync
Raw and real
I cease to think
Only feel
We journeyed down
That extra mile
Just in time
It’s been a while
A couple of weeks ago I fell in love
OK, I will come clean and I will admit it
I’ve finally found the one I’ve been looking for so so long
I open the door and you are there
All this time you’ve been sitting patiently waiting for me
Waiting for me to reach out for you
Hold you in my hands so tenderly
Undress you and admire your wonderful form
Finally to discover your sweet soft center
Today I could wait no longer
I succumbed to your deep dark charms and I devour you
I lick my lips with satisfaction and smile a blissful smile
I confess … I ate my final Reece’s Plain chocolate Peanut Butter Cup
which has been in the fridge for three weeks
9th September 2014
"For all sad words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are these, 'It might have been'."
~ John Greenleaf Whittier ~
I knew that someday you would break my heart
we loved too fast and much too strong
the pages of our story were being torn apart
as foreshadowing moments began to unfold
yet we clung to our dreams of tomorrow
hoping for us, the best was yet to come
I loved waking beside you in the glow of dawn
then gently falling into your welcoming arms
For just a little while the world was beautiful
but there were signs, I was not the one for you
Too soon our tomorrow filled with sorrow
I knew for us, the worst was yet to come
Signs were clear that what we once held dear
no longer mattered to you. With vows forsaken
your path was taken, leading you away from me
My grief was overwhelming but you remained aloof
turned your back, walked away and left me crying
I knew this day of reckoning had finally come
We turned our backs on what might have been
cherished dreams haunted by lengthening shadows
that were swept away into the depths of the sea
of animosity where love is never meant to dwell
My wearied heart grew numb; a withered leaf
falling in Autumn. For us the best will never come
~~~~~~~~~~
April 20th, 2017
I’m trying a new refreshing write
My blessed Soul word out of sight
Maybe my view should truly change
Having a good look at new poetic range
I don’t want to upset the infamous P.D.**
The one who’ll police me in 3D
Undercover poet, that apparently is not?
If I reach for my pen, he’ll take his shot!
On the run with out my needed soul
I better hide in that deep dark hole.
As he Ass kisses all those lovely ladies
Maybe he wants to have their babies??
Taking advantage of his poetic power ;-)
I bet in reality he’s as sweet as a flower!
What horrid word’s I use without my belief
If I get caught, he may smash out my teeth!
A poet on the run from a cop so hot?
In P.Ds eyes, a poet, that I am not??
To be or not to be, that is his question?
Fountain Pen to my head, I’ll sign his confession!
Banged up in this inspirational cell
“Not a poet” written on walls of limerick hell
“P.D waz here “ plastered for all to see
As soon as he reaches for his pen, you better turn and flee!!
(Welcome and embrace our new Poet friend
I’ll love and embrace him until the end
I trust he’ll visit my poems, and call them crap
That’s my plan, body armoured up, ........I’ll just have a nap.)
**Poetry Destroyer
Only Kidding P.D. And welcome :-)
Obviously, i can't tell you what form this is!!