Best Burns Poems
Tongues of solar flare writhe in combat kiss
—flame-throwers unleashed
iron words h a m m e r e d in fire
ferrous words melt-morph into heart-welts
once under skin
hear the fevered air burn with cheers;
c a c k l e s of c r a c k l e s and h -i -s -s -s
bellies of tears full of fire; fire feeds on gasoline tears
fire-eaters’ —bellies full of flames
turn inside-out; fire-breathers shape-shift
from love doves to squawk hawks
bonfire of marital bliss consumed by wildfire
desolation burns holes in lacy i n* t i* m a* c y
ashes
fall
from
s o l o
cigarettes
. . . nuclear winter in summer
t h r o a t s of songbirds c h a r r e d
. . . silence
follows blaring —w h o o s h— of serpent fire
purification in cremation of all OratiOn sound
liability and liberation
animate to dissipate in snaky smoke of HeLL-wraiths
apathy clouds form they rain on red heat
smother a smolder mother a cease fire
ember-ice; scalds freezes t–h–a–w–s
whets flesh — and wets fire extinguished flower bed
ashes laid down
—passion’s quiet confetti paves a path—
w. a. i. t. s
— s l e e p w a l k s
… d r e a m s
Spiritual injection,
soul to the bone marrow gene therapy
Regeneration revived me,
when grace was bestowed abundantly
Dipped my soul in the water,
emerged with a spark of godly desire
I wanted to be holy ...
be elevated higher
I felt the fire
as it began to burn within
The flames of purification
burned away all my sins
And the fire kept burning within
Melted away my stony heart,
reshaped it into a new spiritual organ
More generous,
more compassionate
More empathy,
more circumspect
What now burns within,
grows more intense everyday
My old desires all burning away
Embers of the past cremated into ash;
buried under the tree,
next to the leaves of all my ill-gotten cash
Resurrected bones born in the fire ---
I walk by faith on the water of troubles,
every blessing from above now doubled
What burns within ...
is a gift from the Everlasting Almighty
What burns within ...
birthed a new spirit that guides me rightly
What burns within ...
cleared away all my doubt and pain
What burns within ...
fallowed my soul to be born again
Sunny aspirations were not meant to be
As cloudy days appended the rainy nights
And mornings arose with darkened skies
Leaving her behind, in shattered dreams
Still she walked, in your abandoned path
Hoping one day you would turn around
But you kept advancing, defying her call
Searching for meaning you never found
Though she was light, you ambled dark
Ignoring the blue sky when it was dawn
Burning in hot sand tricked by a mirage
Skipping the pond, where lives the swan
Markers of love got washed away soon
Life you chiseled still burns the wound
Footprints of desire that stayed frozen
Melted away with the changing season
Now being aged, you detest loneliness
But memories too have fled your name
July 19, 2018
Placed 4th in best free verse contest by John Hamilton
Placed first in late October 2018 contest by Brian Strand
Memory burns the kettle black. It bursts.
Broth slides as cream sticks to the stove's hot eye.
Emptiness gathers on a spoon, unstirred.
Dinner is runned out on in a quick blur.
Yesterday's coating is on my tongue's cry.
Memory burns the kettle black. It bursts.
The room's chills left there hold me within brrs.
How could melted icecubes still subtly bite?
Emptiness gathers on a spoon, unstirred.
I flow like a desert's sandpaper thirst.
The watered taste is hardened by stark light.
Memory burns the kettle black. It bursts.
A wait in this loveache becomes curdled.
Please, hold me, all my scars don't feed it right.
Emptiness gathers on a spoon, unstirred.
Where a cleaning chore, inside only shirk.
The warmth in my bubble is a goodbye.
Memory burns the kettle black. It bursts.
Emptiness gathers on a spoon, unstirred.
Hitler is burning
He burned yesterday
He will be burning tomorrow
He began to burn immediately
after his last breath.
Hitler will burn forever.
He would gladly accept a drop
of cool water on his tongue
from the least of those at Auschwitz,
at Dachau, at Warsaw, at Flossenburg.
Now, he knows.
He needs no convincing;
how cruel he was,
how wrong he was,
how doomed he was,
from the moment he began
to devalue those he termed
“useless humanity.”
Now, he understands
that each one
was more acceptable than he.
He has total recall of each
prideful thought, callous decision,
every brutal act,
Now, he sees their faces
perpetually before him.
Hitler cannot escape the flames,
his torment will never end.
Yet he is not consumed.
Hitler burns.
The fire crackled and spat out embers
that gleamed brightly in the hearth.
Yet unattended they soon died away
to become dull grey ash particles.
Just like a fire need laying and tending
so too does love to help it strongly flourish.
Careful layering of dry tinder and
a few wisps of newspaper tightly curled.
Twigs and small branches added next
then a flame is held out until it ignites.
Take care to nourish your love
and show them sweet tenderness.
Gentle fanning growing more vigorous
as all starts to catch with a happy roar.
Feed it well and soak up its heat
and watch as shadows flicker on walls.
Bank it up well so it slowly smoulders
throughout the night. Fan the embers
and watch the flames slowly revive
just like love does when cared for.
Bask together in its glow
as it consumes and flourishes.
Filling you with love eternal
as you grow old together.
When night burns starless like a tomb,
shadow exults the dark and gloom.
Our souls hone fears sharp as a blade,
and every path holds certain doom.
To dare a trek on nights thus made
all rue in heart their fool's crusade.
Through shadowed vestige, mute and still
all dreams of past and future fade.
Fainthearted now, we lack the will
to slow our heart, to mount the hill,
where specters sing their doleful tune,
and dread alone makes one's blood chill.
Dark, boundless night would have us swoon,
so pray that safety comes, and soon.
When souls feel trapped by shadows dire
we cast our hopes upon the moon.
The moon sustains as twilight's fire,
it tarries until dusk expire.
When sunlight ends the night's deep mire,
we'll share new hope by dawn's bright pyre.
~~~Night Burns~~~
Meandering rivers, streams and burns
Zig zagging, flowing in contour turns
Sparkling waters as pure as can be
Flow through the glens and down to the seas
Much life is found in these translucent waters
Species of fish, and delightful otters
Along these rivers, streams and burns
Grow many grasses, trees and ferns
Varieties of greens in wonderment bloom
A most beautiful sight is natures front room
Her seasons dictate, the rise and the fall
The pictures she paints, delightfully enthrals
These graceful rivers, streams and burns
Lured us to settle, for beside the seas we yearned
Villages turned into towns, and towns into cities
For the lure of these waters, some murky some pretty
For all around the world, the patterns the same
These are just a few, the Thames, Ness and the Seine
Look after all waters as they are all our concern
Our meandering rivers, streams and burns
" My entry into Brian's contest Flow, River, Flow "
http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/poetry-soup-4.php
----I thought I had posted this a while back...guess I didn't. Oops. : ) here it is...couple years old.
When sorry words offer but sadness and pain,
When weary thought drifts into the tides of shame,
When heavy darkness fills my soul,
Freezing last embers upon the coal,
The love in my heart burns in vain
It burns in vain, for I can never quite reach
The paths that entangle, while the demons breach
It burns in vain, for I try so hard for naught
My tears in a frost-bitten muddle—construed and caught
As snowfall sifts ice onto disdain,
As afternoons crawl into midnight shade,
As every mistake has torn me apart,
This foolish soul crushed—bashed from the start
The love in my heart burns in vain
It burns in vain, for reality is but a fret
Knowing tragedy shall befall, though it comes not yet
It burns in vain, for I have hurt you still
As I try to escape the furrowing doubts that kill
So now I cringe, and cower, and remain
So caught in your sorrow as I turn away
So sorry and hateful for what I put you through
For as I falter, you are ever true
The love in our hearts burn in vain
Yet, somehow the yester-embers among the frozen coals return
Upon the frost-bitten windowpane—somehow they burn
When Sun Burns Too Hotly And Blue Sky Melts
Our secret pond laughing and wading there
our hearts joined in Nature's beauty divine.
That we might lose our joy, gave us a scare.
thought of loss, destroyed future -hers and mine.
Summer came, we forgot about that fright
for bliss was to be had with each soft kiss.
Dancing our days, romancing through each night
darling, that and so much more I so miss.
With no saving miracle, our joy lost
we in our great love soared too long, too high.
We dared too deep and paid the heavy cost
now our hearts find only sad, empty sky.
Such memories although old and faded
reveal Fate's hand can not be evaded.
Robert J. Lindley
Sonnet
(Number 5 of 5 in Hope's great treasures series)
Syllables Per Line: 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10
Total # Syllables: 140
Total # Words: 114
Note: Great care must be taken to hold such a deep and precious treasure...
For omission brings such tragic costs.
Yet destiny may later bring greater reward if one but maintains Hope, and faith in walking a clear and just path.
For Hope and future are open to change if one reverses course from a dark path and willingly embarks upon a journey to find Light and Truth....
This sonnet the fifth of the five written on the Treasures of Hope tells of Hope lost because Hope was never grasped and held tight.
I deliberately did not use the word hope in the title or in any verse because the narrative presents its ABSENCE(!) AND THE DIRE CONSEQUENCES OF DANCING EVEN IN MOMENTS OF BLISSFUL DARKNESS.
The six sonnet(unwritten) on Hope, is the one I am now living with my wonderful family that I treasure far, far above anything in this life..
As it is --Hope-- , truly realized and held ever so firm..
Sometimes, a slow fire burns inside of me,
And eats away at all the good I’ve done.
The Spark Divine’s across the Nether Sea*,
And of the blunt and broken, I am one.
I would my heart could smite smoke like a sword,
And burn a fiery streak across the bay.
I’ve gathered all my Love into the Word,
And said one tenth of what I have to say…
I calm my teeth, now, for they’d clench and grind,
While I tend still, unworthy fires here.
I cannot know the Nature of that Mind
That sows its seeds among the soils of fear…
But, now, Your coming spreads snow on the fire,
And cools my brow with flakes, freezes my ire.
* the Sea of Samsara, the Sea of Suffering. Also, the emotional plane.
Each year, an evening bright as any star,
in song and verse retells the tale once more,
with homage paid to one man’s repertoire.
Humbling and uplifting, his thoughts restore
our universal oneness, humankind
across the globe, each with each entwined.
Our frailties, joys and sorrows understood,
with love and pathos are his lines imbued.
Hands joined in celebrating brotherhood
and in our hearts enduring gratitude
for what this plain and humble man has shown,
revealing what our souls have always known.
And so, each year, we contemplate anew
this gifted ploughman and his words so wise,
partake of haggis and a dram or two,
yet mindful of the wider world outside.
To gain the peace for which the whole world yearns
feed deep upon the words of Robert Burns.
How our flame seems to burn
like a wildfire on mountainside
only to become coursed by the wind
changing directions to begin again
All of nature from a distance
across the rivers bank
can only stand in awe
in view of our flaming fury
burning with every touch
melting each to the core
as fusing the finest ores
I am your wick to your lantern
you are my deepest resevoir
of limitless oil....
you are my infinite universe
unexplored spaces
which I can't ignore
my venusian heaven of love...
You are all that....and more
Fire starter using flame
To burn kill destroy lame
What is your end game
To make money to gain
California she suffers so
Set ablaze her forests glow
People steeples burning red
Hard to watch tears are shed
What is the reason or cause
Arson or accident or natures fault
Too many questions strange to see
Insurance cancelled those policies
God help California prevail
As we watch these fires from hell
May the truth be a breeze with sail
Blowing in peace where water fails
insired by a picture from allpoetry.com/amyrowsell
What burns inside her?
what is that girl’s fire?
something that maybe he is not providing
is there something she is hiding?
is there something dark inside her
maybe what she sees is a blur
maybe she was scared for life
maybe she didn’t want to be his wife
maybe this girl needs help
maybe she needs something for herself
what is this girl’s fire
what is burning inside her?