Best Castoff Poems
I wrote verse on the wings of a lark
romantic phrases in perfect rhyme
but the lark flew away in the dark
I wrote no further for the longest time
A lone blue jay landed upon my lawn
I wrote sweet prose on his sapphire wings
He spent the night with me, but at dawn
the jay flew away and no longer sings
I answered the call of a beautiful raven
I wrote love sonnets on his ebony wings
He stayed for years in my safe haven
I was one of the raven's castoff things
I no longer trust those who take flight
I lost them all and my torn heart bled
On restless wings I'll never again write
of love that leaves me alone in my bed
forsaken
in silence and
despair,
my heart wilted
from fail promises.
it's darkest
bleak vault.
I curse each
weeping
tear from my
desolate
eyes, left with lost sleep.
whispers of failures are
all
I hear a castoff.
6/16/2020
Yalto: Line 1 to 15: 3,-4-2,-4-5-3-2-3-2-3-3-5-6-1-5 syllables.
Thesaurus - Abandon or Abandoned Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Dear Heart
Haunted Mansion – Beware!
Abandoned mansion cries in loud creaks and groans
From deep within the dark cellar ghostly moans
Attic lights flicker...then suddenly turn off
By unseen hands of haunted souls castoff.
Windows rattle, winds intone incantations
Of tangled webs to strangle all sensations
Hallways echo spectral chants as terror flows
Reeling rhythms - eerie haunted vertigo.
Deep in vaults dark plots of midnight roses grow
Thorny canes drip with poisons like black snow
Chalice filled with toxic brews from blighted petals
Touches lips in a toast of stinging nettles.
All doors and windows tightly locked and chained
Only unheard shrieking prayers still remain
Foreboding fears smothers like a phantom kiss
When screams free fall into a bottomless abyss
10-13-22
Contest: 12-16 Lines of Scary Halloween Rhyme
Sponsor: Tania Kitchen
Rhymes checked with www.rhymezone
Sea Glass 7-11-24
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sea Glass
On strands and shoals, waves of rolling tides,
Neither pro nor biased,
Tumble castoff vessels, emptied of purpose,
Into scattered shards of sharp amber remnants
Piercing tender soles.
Bits of blue and green edges,
Rub up against mica’s pearls,
Refined by fool’s gold -
Brokenness in metamorphosis
By stoic tidal pulses
And lurching tide’s undulations.
Discarded gypsies from bonfire’s passions
Laughter, nostalgia and desolate strolls
Gestating in a matte chrysalis,
Life’s thesaurus honed into shapeless dregs
By gritty fingers rising
From the cold fire of the abyssal plains.
I wrote verses on sullen wings of a lonely lark
romantic phrases I had written in perfect rhyme
but the avian flew off when night grew dark
I wrote no further poetry for the longest time
A beautiful blue jay then landed upon my lawn
I wrote such sweet prose on his sapphire wings
He spent many nights but at the cusp of a dawn
he left searching for other pleasures life brings
I answered the mating call of a handsome raven
Love sonnets I inscribed upon his ebony wings
He stayed for years with me in our safe haven
before I became one of the raven's castoff things
I shall no longer place trust in those who take flight
I lost them all and for a time, my torn heart bled
On restless wings of others, I'll never again write,
trusting myself to compose upon my wings instead
A castoff used only for the music purchased
purposefully, exceedingly carefully,
as though a mistaken choice would
distress the listener
somehow
it went missing around the time you did.
I could only hope someone else was
pressing its buttons now – turning it
on and off at will, turning up the volume,
making it scream, holy hell, until
the attention was on and for nothing else.
When it was around, nothing else mattered.
I could listen to its music all day and never
be bored of it, but I didn’t want to rely on the music
it played to get through my day, to sit through inane,
purposeless meetings while I tried to look attentive,
all the while wondering when I’d get the
chance to play it again.
I recall it had been put down carelessly.
It wasn’t well placed in a spot I’d remember.
Complacent and common, somewhere it sat
until someone smart enough to see it
for what it was
took it up, held it close,
and would never let it go.
Was it the taunting stares
The feelings repressed
The betrayal by a friend
The weight of sacrifice
The promise of Abba
Did you give it up all
Eloi Rama.. Rama..
Was it the burden
The sin upon you thrust
Was there still hope
Was it fear of being castoff
Was it worth My Lord..
Was the sacrifice worth..
An atonement for all sin
Till eternity for all times..
Yet we escape not trials
Yet a throne of judgement
Stands awaiting the trumpets
As mercy upon us
Like dew fall..
Mercy throne we beseech
Deal with us like sons
Heirs of life by grace
Rabbi do teach us
Whisper in our darkening hearts
An awakening of the we spirit
A fellowship with the One yes
My Lord in right and wrong
I still am sandwiched in choice
Byword People (Came By Way)
Pitch black was the day after
the nightmare before
When the blue wails
washed upon the sunset shore
Dark journey’s end for the castoff children,
who were unspoken for
Idol eyes resting carelessly,
got sin windswept upon a western breeze
Towards a bitter labor colony destiny
An ancient reign of tears soaked the New World red soil,
as reaper grief tainted the replanted spoils:
Sepia souls who were unspoken for
The auction sound of the gavel pound
had such an ugly skin tone ...
Wavy echoes of the ghastly row roar
from the trapdoor chained oar
Emerald moan exertion reverberations
of better beryl days bygone
Fear numbed by the cadaver drone —
That sea-whipped unfurling
of the dreaded skull and crossbones
We of the byword name,
came by way
of the Middle Earth dark passage:
Ivory cold Purgatory
“Abandon all hope”
was the living death sentence message
Byword we came by way,
tossed and driven by Hades’ fury —
Gale force hellbent
on making a false profit delivery
Our byword name
was bawdy mocked at the loading docks
Precious Nazarene locks
were talon prey sheared from the flocks
Our byword shame
was put on lewd, bare buttock display
Scarlet letters written
on wooden stocks ~ hope rotting away
As fresh oppression became
perpetual slavery
And His story whited out
our erased ebony glory
Byword people came by way
of the Middle Earth dark passage:
Ivory Coast gold pirate foray
Forged link pain, so galley below demeaning,
was our Ivory cold Purgatory
Until us bygone disgraced
accepted our Gospel heritage retold fate —
That blessed Second Coming message,
we freely bosom embraced
Byword people,
with the cursed byword name
Cast on the Niger river ...
spit given the extra G, we derisively came
Over fortune fading empire time,
we byword people were scornfully blamed
Pitch black was the day after
tomorrow’s scapegoat nightmare before
When the sky blue wails
whitewashed upon the ruby sunset shore
Old Covenant eclipse began for the captivity children;
who, tho’ New World sold,
were Golgotha crossroad spoken for
Sea Glass
Waves
Rolling
Tides
Tumble
The castoff
Shattered
Shards
Of jars
And bottles
Blue, green, umber,
Recalling
Picnics,
Life’s
Laughter -
Seashore trash
Transformed
As
Sea glass
Gems.
Thank you Line for your inspiration and suggestion!
6-14-21
Contest Waltzing Waves
Sponsor: Kim Merryman
God perfections
To a gone straying nation
He calls and led the way for His heavenly son
Who many soul he had won
There is still hope in a tremendous outreach
Open your Bible and begin to read
For the eternal life fighting for creed
Temptation is a Christian challenge
While the devil tries to seek his revenge
Whom the Mountains he castoff high
There is no variety in God eyes
For the poor in hand who sigh
Again, there is hope for a trouble world
Soon to be a perfect pearl
One that is still in God’s hand
Holding us from sinking in the deadly sand
Soon someday we all will form a peaceful band
Waiting for Christ descend
sneakers twisted over hydro wires
co-joined
dangling from tied laces
tracks to an unhappy ending
a runner's castoff
erasing the scourge of a race lost?
an overhead tale of something snapped
when expectations erode
forlorn scuffed shoes
undone by some soul
weary of ownership
fused to the wrangle of wind
where secrets shake
heavenward
till summoned back to ground
this unburdened rejection
on a current for altering it
an indifferent toss losing its grip
when laces fray
gnarled by friction
an ending
like depleted affection
with nothing neatly laced up
Pennsylvania summer
In the coal mining patch
With crickets, mosquitoes and
Children racing sprinklers
Beside closed castoff mines
Like matadors with bulls;
The faded old grandmas sit on the porches
Lethargically fanning
With Sunday's church bulletins
Trying to create the breeze God forgot
As they prop swollen feet on an old kitchen chair.
A ship in a dream pointing
her shapely shadows from the shadowed dawn.
The image tumbling on a castoff rose-swept bay
and sweeping waves.
I watched in vain this drowsy ship from an older day.
Sails billowed in the swift winds sway.
Amidst the painted mid sea-blue waves caressed
the shore-sea green.
Taking in awe and wonder my breath indrawn the salty sea air.
I watched through timeless dream shades as alas
she sank into the moonlight.
The sea was only sea all was left the
dream with me.
From Kisii's loamy terrain, I ascend,
Maroo's clasp, my rooted blend.
A Christian's essence, bathed in God's grace,
Sinner's visage, yearning His face.
They perceive a flawless meld,
Upon God's throne, destiny unveiled.
For poetry's allure, ardor resides,
Singing resonates from within, abides.
Daily toils, domestic strife,
Castoff epithets from bygone life.
They lacked discernment, their judgments piled,
In their assessments, I stood beguiled.
Now mature, I stand resolute and tall,
Prepared for life's summons, answering the call.
In pursuit of a partner, grace I beseech,
Understanding's warm clutch, within reach.
Kneeling humbly, I petition and implore,
Guide my path, dear Lord, forevermore.
For a domicile and sage to guide,
In steadfast patience, I'll abide.
Oh, Almighty, in this relentless quest,
Grant me the boon that suits me best.
A peerless maiden, I fervently pray,
To be my rib, come what may.
©Otieno Elvis Gikoi
?ArtFromHeart??
Late a time barrel sound and moonlight inline for a castoff
The missing is a sure the pure blood leave along
Time a gate night it shall fall (nine)
News for a witness fresh to cattle wind of time (win for time)
Age a gate torn for a past night eyes in gazed (glass)
The missing is a sure the pure blood leave along
Point of a moon a point of projection is star along
Words and suggestion left of hounds to howls the night moon
I ask could one word the mean in latin better
Quod est a certus missing sanguis exire per