Best Berm Poems
Singular snowflakes spread-out
blanket a dreary barren berm
that overlooks the dormant meadow
bringing a brightness to fields of grey.
Smiles overcome me as I watch
the proud red-breasted robin
pick at pieces of weathered brush
choosing just the right one
to comfort her nesting baby.
Whistles echo out of the rustic kitchen
where a steamed up copper kettle sings
waiting patiently to pour into perfect tea.
The first sip commands my attention and
wraps tightly around me, leaving a feeling
like your precious smile on a cloudy day
Quietly I sit absorbing the peaceful morning
like the baby robin in anticipation your return
I’m building castles in the sand
on the shores of a grey, grey sea.
The clouds have gathered overhead
and the shells are wave-washed clean.
Footprints wander down the shore
of the vast and vacant sea,
the waves are buffing them away
and turning the sand sateen.
Beyond the berm and the waving grass
inked upon the setting sun,
someone sits in a house of glass
as sand through fingers runs.
I’m watching seabirds dodge the stars
when the waves reflect the moon
and pulling seaweeds from the rocks
they drearily festoon.
And the sand’s run out of the fingers now,
and the drink’s run out of the cup;
the house of glass is quiet now,
all the shutters drawn up.
I.
Ode the thrill of a tango
curled in clutches sleek
Elegance, a prerequisite
Add on a spun euphoria
Nimble is a turgid swoon!
Arms conduct to the aria
New skin, feels no tocsin
It's deeply in a you and i
Glazed, to the tightening
and a strangling organza
Necked into a suffocation
So go the tunnel deaths…
(1/27/2021: '02 Silverton MY; Alameda ...contest theme was murder in the tunnel)
II.
Ornately, I gild over my days a’ la fresco
Carefully, I wield molten gold, enigmatic
Elaborate must these life undulations be
as metallic sheen screens all insipid aura
New cantankerous crack? Just weld upon
and smooth the jagged with flowing flora
Now the feckless plaster sparkles golden
I spurn mawkish, like the silvered literati
glossing my craven, to caverns gleaming
Aurum weaves, in its narcissistic miasma
Nothing malodorous in self-love / loathin’
So imperious my bombastic art, it glazes!
(8.17.21 Redone at Willow Berm and DBW; theme was Craig’s Broken contest relating to Kintsugi)
December Rain Dance
A drop of cold rain sneaks through the atmosphere,
Suavely mingling to the earth,
Lightly tapping the shoulder of the road;
Almost startling the road, causing a lonely spec of road dust to stir and turn its head
To meet the rain,
The drop asks the dust to dance,
And a powdery puff of water and dust leap into the air;
A soft, clean, wet waltz.
You can smell the rain and dust as they whirl across the dance floor.
It is the smell of fresh happiness—of love.
The dance starts slowly as the lovers are suspended in animation for a moment,
Wondering why it took so long, until December, for them to meet.
And then, everyone joins the dance--
A trillion dancers of rain and dust.
So many that the December lovers are nearly unrecognizable in the crowd of splashes.
When the dance is over the dancers lay down to rest,
Because the energy of their December rain dance is expended.
They melt into the berm and with them dissolves their affair.
fisherwomen tramp
along river's berm
we picnic
Smoke trickles from red brick stack
Children make ready for slumber
Through the frosty panes of boudoir glass
Eyes amaze at the wonder before
Amber radiant glow of street lamp
Broken by fall of crystalline confetti
Obscuring rays and speckling ground white beneath
Sleep won’t come soon
As preparations cease and excitement mounts
Six unblinking eyes, mesmerized
Three smiles grow wider in anticipation
Darkness’ shroud powerless to suppress
The ever thickening blanket of pureness
The sky, once grey with cloud gives way
To hues of pink in silent tribute to a seasons’ finest hour
Adolescent lids grow heavy
In tune with the boughs of fir they watch
Sleep comes unwillingly; but with it
Dreams of silver blades and alabaster characters
Orange of nose, black of eyes with imperfect grins
Trident tracks dot the snowy surface
Evidence of the morning’s vain forage
The songbirds’ voice echoes in accompaniment
To the celestial dance bringing dawn to the world.
“Academia on ice for the day”
A radio resonates the children’s wishes
Followed closely by a fervent scramble
for wellies, scarves and long since lost mittens
Runners scrape trenches down every hill and berm
The screams of white warfare, giggles from fresh angels
Jubilant reminders of unplanned vacation.
The Aroma of hot chocolate gently simmering on stoves
Is too much temptation for little cold nose
Jackets and gloves are shed in wet heaps
In favor of mugs for their hands, and a fire for their seats
The snow doth fall upon my face
with cool spots of icy water that soon melt from the heat of 98 point 6
The snow fills my bird bath 'til it piles up and creates a dome no bird will negotiate
The river, behind my house flows slower as snow and freezing temperatures begin to solidify the water
And there is my neighbor, struggling to remove the snow from her driveway
I see her breath as each shovelful advances her progress to the street
Within a few moments her driveway is clear as I whisk my snow blower through the 3 foot berm to the open roadway
She says thank you in her soft and bone chilled voice
I call back,"Merry Christmas".
There is a world of endless exploration,
The whole of life yet at its blissful berm,
A place of wonder and imagination,
With views of this world in its purest form.
A world that all have paid a passing visit,
And drove men mad with longing for another,
Its greatness, not realized whilst they were in it,
For years was cause of unsatisfied hunger.
For only once can this grand place be seen,
Its innocence can never be regained,
Its borders crushed by an aging world obscene,
And not but precious memories remain.
From this world there is much that can be learned,
Though, sadly, there’s no hope of our return.
On the top of the berm
One Canadian soldier stood
His head bowed
Heavily understood
We sign up to do
What the duty ensues
To our flag we obey
Our enemies, we pursue
This tor of abroad
In a distant land
Four lives so free
Leaving families bland
As we awake tomorrow
Knowing of yesterdays gone
We do for the right
For on this world we belong
We are a nation of many
Some days we will scar
Of Canada
Canadians we are
My tribute to the many Canadian soldiers who have fought for not only their
Countries freedom, but to preserve world peace, i bow to the living and fallen.
http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/war-6.php
Awaken to sounds of flight, machines in the distance
Muffled sounds from fire watch
Bellowing to arms to arms
Planes humming, men rising from their slumber
The sky was dark, silhouettes dimmed the stars
Unapproachable rays and milky ways faded
As the Reaper flew over way
With tools of trade
Squinting indistinctly it had begun
To my feet, roused to the berm
In celebration I danced with wolves of war
Marines gathering for the kill
Then I recognized the sound of Thunder
In the distant flashes of light, insidious it was
Thump, Thump Boom
Thump, Boom
The feeling of black, the approach of stillness
Where nothing exist
Such a sight, watched in awe as the sand shook my feet
Would we be brave?
Leathernecks cheered
And the Sentry yelled, “To arms to arms”
In innocence I encouraged death
My thoughts trapped in haunting recollection
I bear in mind, If only we knew
I died with them
If only I knew lost I was that night
My soul hidden in the desert
And in my dreams to arms, to arms, to arms
off the gander, down feather basks on the free breeze, divorced
(8/24/2020: '02 Sea Ray 560; Willow Berm)
i stood there on the berm of a cliff
like juliet in the absence of romeo
feeling dim, as night fell
in a breathless mist
my thoughts lurked
in the ebon hole of mind
as the stars settled in
looming in and out
of the milky way
i looked at them
as they glistened
remembering that look
that once twinkled
within your eyes
when i caught your glance
now mind only sees
the crimson edges
of flames burning out
as i catch the glow
of shooting stars
trailing in glimmers
on a downward spiral
as they burn out
just like love...
August 12, 2019
Shooting star contest
Sponsored by Nayda Ivette Negron
N/A the day away
Sponsored by Lu Loo
The swish of some passing cars unnerving me still
With the rapid clack of my windshield wipers,
When, suddenly, I felt a most unwanted chill
Like the rapid hiss of a hundred captured vipers.
And I knew, at the worst time possible, my tire
Right front, passenger side, was now a crumble,
Just when my AAA card was about to expire,
So, I steered it to the berm feeling the flat rumble.
I sat sullen, waiting for the downpour to retire,
While several vehicles zip by me at ridiculous speeds
None of them, I understood, stopping to inquire
Why I was pulled over to the side … or my needs.
When the rain finally abated, and I shuffled outside
Four creaking vehicles stopped, offering me a ride!
written October 17, 2021
especially for "Onamatopoeia" Poetry Contest
sponsored by Emile Pinet
[Rhymes checked with rhymezone.com]
There once was a cautious weird man named Berm
He was mortally so afraid of germ
No girl did he ever kiss
Saying I won’t get sick miss
Pressed her lips with fingers, thought there’s no harm.
_____________
May 14, 2023
Syllable count : 10/10/7/7/10 (HMS)
Contest : Funny, Bawdy Or Humerous Limerick
Sponsored by : Tania Kitchin
distant wolves sniff at the winds,
sense what you do not.
your death hums in the air!
pings run through your heart
to raise a berm of hair!
Baskerville hounds now shift
from lope to lunge.
their thirst for blood has come!
rapacious tongues make clear
your death is in their mouths!