Best Bittern Poems
Grim fog, I praise the shelter of your drear,
the sundown ghost morose not grandiose,
I walk alone - but, no -- with my despair;
a bittern bids a bitter adiós.
The breakers so in agony they gnash
and gnaw the strand with thrash of foamy green,
the tempest witch brings ironfisted lash
alas, the eye-of-storm epiphany unseen.
Free, free! The tern who flies in Gemini
above beloved peak and shore and wave,
sun-painted wings, away you went -- so spry,
so fierce! Bluebird pierced and buried in your grave,
..and the stars understand; a fateful fall into the sea --
Damn the deep! It’s jostle docile.. my scream to meet the scree!
Susan Ashley
June 29, 2021
~ Fourth Place ~
Premiere Contest: 2022 Poetry Marathon Mille 11
Sponsor: Mark Toney
~ First Place ~
Premiere Contest: Contemporary Sonnet
Sponsor: Charlotte Puddifoot
*bittern: any of several tawny brown herons
*scree: an accumulation of weathered rock fragments at the foot of a cliff
*a Modern / Contemporary Sonnet is a poem of 14 lines addressing any theme of the poet's choosing. It does not need to adhere to any set rhyme scheme, syllable count or meter, nor does it need to include a volta. The only true requirement of a modern sonnet is that it consists of 14 lines*
The amaryllis yawns in bed of white
The fall of day paints shadows on the rose
Each flower is a ward of solemn night
Their gentle sleep upon which none impose
Beyond the halls and down the drowsy stair
Into the hallowed stillness of the lake
Illuminating every pebble there
The moon believes that no one is awake
Yet bittern watches all with eyes of gold
Alighted new in absence of the light
And with his lusty call so clear and bold
He breaks the quietude and then takes flight
A ripple in the water seeks the shore
It meets the rocks and ripples there no more
I am the reed
Beak to the sky
Swaying in the breeze
I am the reed
I don't want to die
Don't see me please
I am the reed
There's nothing here
But swaying grass
I am the reed
My greatest fear
Please just pass
I am the reed
I am the reed
I am the reed
August 30th 2018
Composed for Tania Kitchin's
Personification Poem On A Pet, Wild Animal Or Insect
Poetry Contest
Not a true Choka...but uses a 5,7,7,5,7,7 format
-------------------------------------------------
Chill, steaming vapour;
Silence over pale water;
Faded, thin wisps of ribboned
Pink
Above the east gate;
I dip oars...and silence
Breaks.
Trace of flame in lilac sky.
Raise, lean, dip and pull;
Sculling forward little
Twirls
Swirl away from dripping
Blades;
Uplifted soul -- soaring!
Remembering how, when young...
Each new day would bring
New hope.
Extends the shoreline --
Sweeping inwards at the
Point;
Green bulrushes in the bay;
A bittern booming:-
Rising up like slow thunder
Drifting out of jade mountains.
My busied childhood,
Hidden pate not yet shaven;
Shrimping with a fine mesh
Net;
Loud, boyish laughter;
Brimming jars crammed with
Sunbeams --
The golden, darting minnows.
Horizon widens,
Shadow retreats from low
Hills;
Gathering orb comforts me;
Selfsame warm comfort
When held by sleepy women
In cold grey of early dawn.
The vaguest murmur,
Faint as drowsy breathe,
Of the soundings of dim chimes...
A call to prayer?
Hands hard-clenched on the
Staid oars;
Restrained by yesteryear.
A bittern boomed
the vast marsh swallowed it~
mother calling me.
We met on February the twelfth, (1998), smitten by her, that was I
But then myself I thought it was fate, once bittern, now twice as shy
It was a strange situation as we had met in unusual circumstances
She too dealing with depression, yet I couldn’t ignore her advances
She was my girlfriend, yeah my love, someone I wanted to marry
But in the end, I'd ask was I really good enough to make her happy?
And because of what love brings, the relationship I tried to rekindle
But gave up trying to fix things, at times I ask was I better off single?
If we'd first befriended ,but guess fools rush in, could I say it any louder
Was it not intended, now where to begin with this bad case of nostalgia
Now a decade ago thinking of every moment we'd share, and every kiss
I'm starting to fade into obscurity, thinking of us back there, I reminisce
And my thoughts numb, so many memories over played of her and I
Here I now am just sitting on my bum, as the parade passes me by
Was I simply misunderstood?, I mean can I really say it any louder?
It's no good, because right now it feels like a bad case of nostalgia
Written (2005) this is part two/ a follow up to worlds apart(1998)
About someone who I was very much in love with
This just giving a little more insight
trying to put so much in to four verses but keep a pattern
was going to strip apart rewrite tough thought leave as is
because this i wrote as words came to me at time
though their were two extra lines i took out
which were.......................
iLL HEALTH NOT FEELING SO GREAT BUT WHAT iVE WRIITEN EXPLAINS WHY
THINKING SHE WAS MY DESTINATION I TOOK MY CHANCES
The window the moon looks like an eye,
And the wolves are howling behind the wall
The outside world is cruel,
And someone in the darkness coming for me...
In the darkness she heard sobs,
What, maybe there crying child?
But Chu... maybe it's the voice of the bittern?
That scream, or to wait for a guest who?
But no, the crying, not the child,
The cries in the dark succubus -
The vampire's daughter, in the village,
Heart suddenly lost...
Hungry in the village she flew,
Looking for a victim in the pitch darkness,
And as luck would have caught a couple -
He someone a home was drunk.
And our vamp deciding to wait,
While they parted,
Decided in the house to go to her,
After all, there is Rodney.
Sweetheart guy waited a long time
And I was ready to leave,
But then he ran,
All flushed from love.
Plays blood... do you smell that?
She is still in bloom.
Sweet, tall, curly hair,
Loved the guy more than anyone.
For her sake he was ready mountains,
Collapse on the way the two of them,
But only here did not know it was he,
Who met her on the way...
....................................
15.12.13 AKC
Canadian geese
black cheeked... brown... white tipped feathers
stormy ocean waves
barnacle geese
hibernate as barnacles
for some... once a thought
starlings murmurate
whispers of countless wings
safty in numbers
hark a bittern booms
invites new life to explode
sedges obliging
quack... quack... quack quack... quack...
mallard ducks enjoying life
frustrated angler
coconut... blue tit
symbiotic winter pairs
autumn time... fresh pares
a bee... wasp mimics
flower flies... a hummingbird
natures macro bling
ostriches... big birds
they'll disappear if threatened
M of P mimics
??Isaiah 14:12-23 KJVAAE??
[12] How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! [13] For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: [14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. [15] Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. [16] They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; [17] that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? [18] All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. [19] But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet. [20] Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. [21] Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. [22] For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord. [23] I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.
God sees and knows all, by God's grace and mercy that none shall Parrish we have been given ample opportunity to return, hopefully more can come to know God, through the promised Holy Spirit, understanding what is going on within one and around one
Sitting on the back porch on a balmy summers morn
and listening to the music of the dawn
wondering who sang the song and where the bird is at;
reaching for my copy, of ‘What bird is that?’
But for an observation, one needs more than their eyes,
for the owner, has flown, before you realize
that the undulating flight can fool you as it flies,
and this makes the bird so hard to recognize.
I yearned to do some viewing, of bird life far and wide,
and for this I need a bird observers guide.
There’s a need for education - this means reading books
to gain knowledge of a species favoured nooks.
With a notepad and a pencil - locations, time and date
are placed in a diary, for future to dictate,
and site guides will lead me, for the better time to view
some species I might flush but barely knew.
But to hazard as a guess, binoculars become a must
for the majority of birds have little trust,
so, from amongst a shrub or well shielded by a hide,
is when a bird’s true assessment is applied.
And to bring a bird much closer, there is further hope,
by purchasing a tripod, to fit a telescope,
and the species in your diary, will certainly increase,
with not a single, disturbance of their peace.
I might witness a rare bittern, or a mallee fowl,
or waiting for the night, a powerful owl.
Plains wanderer and painted snipe, few ever get to see;
and a swift parrot, would be a prize for me.
So, don’t forget your camera; I’ll never forget mine
to retain a pictographic token sign,
to go back to a site where special species do reside,
and referenced from the bird observers guide.
a faint booming note
deep in the everglades marsh ~
a bird seldom seen
it's distinctive call
like a pebble drop in stream ~
elusive bittern
Spring Flower, Bird Or Butterfly Haiku × 2 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Tania Kitchin
Date written: 02/14/2023
*********
the light of all life
sol...illuminating all
false statement
false statement
sol...illuminating all
the light of all life
distant horizons
the edge of the world
guarded by retards
guarded by retards
the edge of the world
distant horizons
the world is a disc
you did not know... some say so
a globe... NASA lies
a globe... NASA lies
you did not know... some say so
the world is a disc
the world... a globe
twenty-eighteen... come on guys...
help save it
help save it
twenty-eighteen... come on guys..
the world... a globe
a thrush is singing
check which one... a mistle thrush
stormcock... a warning
hark... the bittern booms
great crested grebes... water walk
treecreeper... ivy
treecreeper... ivy
great crested grebes... water walk
hark... the bittern booms
i walk the moon
i take its lead... i'm dreaming...
beneath the stars
beneath the stars
i take its lead... i'm dreaming
i walk the moon
nature asks a friend
do ask the human race why...
a mockingbird
a mockingbird
do ask the human race why...
nature asks a friend
************** UNSUPPORTED CODE
Lance-Lot
by Michael R. Burch
Preposterous bird!
Inelegant! Absurd!
Until the great & mighty heron
brandishes his fearsome sword.
Keywords/Tags: Nature, Animal, Bird, Birds, Heron, Herons, Fish, Fishing, River, Ocean, Ardeidae, Egret, Egrets, Bittern, Bitterns, Great Blue Heron, Goliath Heron, Gray Heron, Great Egret, Crane, Stork, Ibis, Spoonbill, Beak, Bill, Sword, Lance, Spear, Inelegant, Gawky, Awkward, Ungainly, Gangly, Preposterous
the llama scribbled a Limerick
the robin wrote a Rhyme
the bittern jotted a Lanterne
the toad penned an Ode
the albatross’ Alliteration
the hippo’s Haiku
the panther’s Pantoum
the cuckoo’s Clerihew
the cow came up with a Couplet
the vole fashioned a Verse
the elephant thought of an Elegy
the pig presented some Prose
these are the unsung poets
the writers of their poem
make a mind to acknowledge
or they’ll remain unknown
You…my friend…my only friend
Broken, broken again
Torn to shreds by a different end
Cast away into a distant land
To meditate, to become strong willed
To pick up the scattered fragments of hope left behind
Headstrong, the voices call it
A simple design yet you are on a failed flight
They say, they say you were destined to fail, never prevail
But I know your strife, I know it well
You would strive to win even if it kills you
Firefly, won’t you shine so bright
Light the way, to finally seize the day
Although I hate your ways, I can’t deny
I strive to fight like you, to be like you
To take the reins and control the path I need to tread
Firefly…I called out: FIREFLY! ! ! !
And you know I did
I put my trust, my faith, and my beliefs in you
To guide me through this bittern end
But Firefly, help me through this firefight
Because I’m borderline to start a masquerade of painful brutality
On a face full of smug arrogance and cockiness, filling others with discontent
Now I hate this way, wish they would dissipate
better word is disappear; don’t want to hear their name or I will be enraged
Eh, oh well; this day will pass one day, this will end one way
By my own hand or the forces controlling the wind