Best Certainty Poems
He's infuriatingly...
pretty...
and I follow myself over his smile to find my eyes, promising uncertainty and chewing on
my bottom lip with the hunger that resides in...
love...
He rolled me over and kissed my dreams, his mouth became my salvation and I nailed myself
to the bedpost as we made love, my legs became morning while I screamed midnight to the
dawn...
and I had never seen such a beautiful sunrise, I had never seen the beginning color herself so
strangely...
I told him, as our eyes appeared shallow, as the light dimmed and he breathed summer on my
neck...
“Blue is blue, Dear, don't try to shade it with red.”
But he explained to me the art of bruises, he informed me the results were beautiful, and
he held up a mirror to my unmarked skin, places where the black and blue and...
purple...
has dissipated...
while he sheltered my chest with his hand, covering my heart with his palm, and told me
the results still beat...
in.me.
I cried, tears of the rain that once fell in April, and he held me, time slipping between
us, beads of sweat that spoke eternity and seven more months, and I spoke silently so he
could hear me, I whispered his name...
“God, you're beautiful,” he said on the second I realized the sadness had left me, that
she had found content and was studying the games we never played with the fascination of a
child, I touched his cheek with the surreal movements that occur when one has fallen and
been caught and smiled at the thought of us...
I sacrificed my pain that night, I handed it straight over to midnight when the day broke,
I blended the sunrise with blue and watched the sky turn purple with him right beside me,
I counted the minutes to eternity and he laughed at my obsessions as he told me I was...
beautiful...
as he drank my belief off my left shoulder with a kiss...
and I looked at him, in the light, my eyes deep with the memories of the sea, as I kissed
him, with a certainty I never questioned as tomorrow started forever...
and he would live inside me
for seven
more
months.
In the loss of expectation,
for a loved one, a lovely dream;
one that is, one that will be, one that will depart.
We grieve, we wonder, we imagine.
We wonder about what might have been,
we imagine what could have been.
Yet, in the uncertainty of what might have been,
what could have been,
there lies the certainty of what is, what will be;
the certainty of our love,
for that loved one, for that lovely dream.
In this certainty, lies our solace,
sufficient to secure our peace,
stable to stand the challenge of circumstance,
strong to stand the test of time,
fit to fill the hollow echoes of uncertainty,
certain to dispel the uncertainty of what could have been;
the uncertainty of what might have been
(Dedicated to Dora Serna)
“The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.” — Werner Heisenberg
heisenberg did not
express uncertainty when
he posited God
at first gulp, science banished thought
of childhood gods of should and ought
but progress through the draught is fraught
as glass bottom comes into view
you expected mere residue
instead, ’tis where God waits for you
Certainty
Can Grace be real if God is not?
These days I think of this a lot!
If God is not and Death's the end
I've not a clue and won't pretend
To know what's true except that you
Will not gain much by killing me,
In this at least, some certainty!
But is Death real and who can know?
Though Star's explosion's quite a show
And seems to be more than a guess
At His story, who would confess
Such sordid tale, start meant to fail
Where all that's ventured, nothing gains
When joy's hope ends in sundry pains!
Does endless fire seem Satan's curse?
An empty dream? What's more perverse?
Would you prefer to burn in Hell
Than not exist? Who then can tell,
Can share a word, why fear's preferred?
If you've known love, can pain be all?
Don't Spring and Summer vote for Fall?
Long Tooth
June 14th in 2019
—The Fortune Teller Who Miscalculated Eternity—
Beneath the carnival’s last amber light,
A wooden prophet sat in velvet still;
His painted eyes possessed no mortal sight,
Yet promised futures by a stranger’s will.
His copper heart concealed no hidden art—
Only the coded chambers of a heart.
I placed a coin once warmed by vanished hands,
A relic from a voice time stole from me;
Not seeking gold, nor kingdoms, nor commands—
I asked what years remained for him to be.
“Two years,” he said, “then newer fires shall burn;
My future waits, prepared for my return.”
I heard within his mechanical reply
The ancient wish that grief might be undone;
The human hunger written in the sky—
To seize tomorrow before it had begun.
For in his certainty, beneath the flame,
I heard my own unspoken plea for name.
I took the claw and hammer from the stall,
The tools of flesh against the forged divine;
One blow reduced his prophecy to fall,
And scattered years like dust before my eyes.
The oracle that claimed tomorrow’s throne
Could not survive the future it had known.
No witness came to measure what was lost;
No scholar weighed the fragments on the ground.
The proof of his great error paid the cost
Of vanishing before it could be found.
I held the coin and knew, beneath the night,
I had not broken him—I broke my sight.
For from his hollow chest, where circuits slept,
A strange and wordless garden seemed to rise;
The gears became the seeds no hand had kept,
The silence opened into unborn skies.
And I understood what no machine can see:
The unknown is not darkness—it is free.
Let engines count the hours they may endure,
Let kingdoms carve their triumphs into stone;
No calculation shall make tomorrow sure,
No system shall possess what is unknown.
For all that breathes beneath eternity’s art
Must leave the future free—and keep the heart.
Cut your teeth on a sure thing and they’ll all fall out, too soon.
The gambler loses a lifetime, while the diligent will succeed.
The only certainty; the sure thing, in this life, si death.
As adults we walk around the streets and parks
with a face saying “I know where I’m going,”
“I know what I’m doing”.
Timetables, manuals, diaries, and journals somehow
find themselves in our pockets,
as form of reassurance for “I know what I’m doing” slogan.
Other times we show a blank expression on our faces,
when the weather forecasters go all wrong;
when life savings end up in a pyramid scheme;
when heroine dosage goes out of control;
when we blame the stars for a breakup…….
Uncertainty breaks apart our certainty……
Poet name: Teddy Kimathi
Date of entry: 12/10/2015
For the contest: Creative Layouts
Sponsor: Broken Wings
collects his benefits from hole in the wall
Luck is on his side, that's his school of thought
His mate has given him a hot tip, good man Paul
the stable lad, he's in the know well he ought
Because he said put your shirt on this one
A racing certainty, can't lose, a walk over,
He enters the bookies, nothing can go wrong,
Writes his betting slip, looking over his shoulder,
Planning to double his money, odds not too long,
Five minutes to the start, he counts his returns
In his head, stalls are being loaded, starter ready
Flag drops stalls open, there off, his stomach churns,
hustling and bumping for position, he feels unsteady,
He's watching the race but his mind begins to wonder
Starts thinking what treats to buy for his three kids
A lovely bouquet of flowers for his devoted woman
Get a take away, perhaps a Chinese sticky spare ribs
Things will be great when this racing certainty comes in
Then shouts from other punters, roaring get in my son
Then came the realisation, devastation, deflation,
No such thing as a racing certainty, all his money gone.
Good sense suppose of all things equally shared,
everyone’s abundance of thoughts much cared.
Those who are most difficult to satisfy,
larger measure of doubt in mental sky.
Sense of reason by diversity and consequence,
some endowed with larger shares and righteous reference.
The well conducted mind by natural equality applied,
likewise to the glories aberration taken as guide.
Wishing of equality in purity of thoughts,
to clearness and distinctness that open mental knots.
Giving fullness to wisdom memories and conduction,
reared beliefs on ethical foundations infirm seduction.
Enfoldment in time for specific growth as certitude,
dualities of soul through dependencies viewed.
Composition and evidence of dependency,
unequal desires and its moral handicap to see.
Dependence of reason instead of revelation,
creating authority issues of great sensation.
The wise being conscious of duality in soul,
working order of eternal certainty as whole.
I have no guarantee
that I will not be run over
by a motor vehicle,
be this a bus, lorry or Rolls Royce
BUT
if I religiously observe the highway code,
cross roads with extreme caution
and avoid traffic at night,
I may rest reasonably well assured
that if I do get run over,
it won't be my fault.
In this life, there's so much fake reality
but real living reality is possible to know
here Abram shows in what he received
was for real as much as falls of snow
God's word is living and active then and now
as Abram was told God is your great shield
bringing a reward that this vision proved true
for the Lord would provide an heir from His field
A promise was given by God Himself
that Abram would have His very own son
God showed him the skies high above
such is God's glory to will it to be done
This is our God being in our experience
giving certainty to our conviction so dear
showing our love to our God our saviour
so very precious forever so very dear
Jehovah Tsidkenu the Lord our righteousness
where once a stranger to God and His grace
this gift of righteousness so freely given
God is real and certain forever in His place
(" After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.")
Genesis 15: 1-6 (ESV)
Yesterday , I woke up frozen
In sorrow cubes
Scattered on the ground
To trample underfoot
The certainty of sprouts
Rooted in the fear of crowd
That is sorry , tired
Of the designs of a dream
Of peace and freedom
Embedded in the pulley
Of brotherhood acts
Today , I woke up frozen
In cubes of certainty
Which the sun no longer melts
Even if elevated
At higher temperature
The reality of the scourge
In cubes of certainty
I will face the sober of the whip
When doubts and drawbacks struggle in the mind
And certainty seems but a demon dream,
When the faith to love is what no-one can find
For even when asleep, the mind still schemes.
When darkness and defeat seem close at hand
And lights dim even as we pray for peace;
when wrecks and ruins rile the native sands;
When in this life we feel we've lost our place.
Then at the saddest depth we see the light
Surrounding with such warmth,with love adorned.
The path that seemed so wrong now leads us right
And in our hearts, warm feelings are new born
Within each storm there is a calm still eye
From there we see the fearful clouds pass by
THE CERTAINTY?
Every Sunday at 10.35, whatever the season,
The elderly couple from down the road walk by on their way to Matins.
It used to be 10.45 in their prime but, as age creeps on, it takes more time to get there.
He still wears a suit with collar and tie, whatever the season.
She still wears a hat, complete with hat pin, whatever the reason. Well, her generation did,
Convinced no doubt of eternal damnation for bareheaded women.
So here they are on their way to their Church -C of E, medium high,
Where the service is just as it’s always been. No guitars or modern beat, no gimmicks from the pulpit.
Just Hymns Ancient and Modern and Psalm eighty-four; and later the Vicar shakes hands at the door as they leave.
They’ve prayed to their loving and merciful God; and I’d like to ask them,
“Is this the same loving and merciful God who let children die in that earthquake last week?
And who sends no rain to an African state so that more children die at a terrible rate in the sun?”
But, of course, I wouldn’t challenge their faith. Just think how I’d feel if they were convinced
And I’d taken away their strength that saw them through life.
But they would simply smile indulgently at one naive enough to question what enlightened folk have known two thousand years.
“It’s all in the Good Book,” they’d say and quote a verse or two that proves to them that everything in that same book is true.
And now, at 12.25, whatever the season, the elderly couple from down the road return to their Sunday lunch.
To the warm smell of the slowly cooking joint and the scolding yap of the poodle who doesn’t see the point
of Matins.
They’ll carry on in the simple certainty of their faith,
And leave me to ponder my uncertainty.
November 2018
You are optical illusions
I’m the realest reality
You offer the superficial
I give him all of me.
You are so predictable
I am intriguing
You leave him second guessing
I always leave him believing
When I’m in his presence i want to do what I’m told
I submit to him completely
You want total control
You try to change the rules
But he leads and i follow
You retrace his steps
But I’ll be his apostle
You’re embedded in his doubts
I am his certainty
You are blind to his ambitions
I want to see him live his dreams
You make him relive his past
I magnify his potential
You tell him what he can’t
But I show him what he can do
I focus on his future
you dwell on his past
you place obstacles before him
while i clear his paths
You show him false concern
I prove that I care
You keep him in your circle
I keep him in my prayers
I make him remember who he is
You make him forget
I’m en-laced in his pride
You’re the remnants of his regret.
I’m here for the long run
You’re along for the ride
You want to fight against him
I will fight by his side
I am his ally
You’re the opposition
When you've been forgotten
I’ll still hold my position!!!