Best Clamored Poems
While in the moonlit night he stood, his crew below asleep,
the captain gazed with knowing eyes upon the ocean deep.
A sinister tranquility was fleeing in the path
of moaning wind grown resolute in showing forth its wrath.
The moon, a pale pearl paradox, stared calmly down at him.
Then angry clouds obscured its face and everything was dim.
Behind the captain’s knowing eyes, his thoughts had grown astray.
They took him to another place where once he used to play.
He stood among the acres of unmoving solid ground,
where waves became tall stalks of grain the wind blew all around.
The first of many undulations crashed onto the ship.
He pictured rippling golden wheat and felt his vessel dip.
The men, awakened, clamored now. He prayed their deaths be swift
and gripped the wheel to navigate a ghastly forceful lift.
Imagining hot prairie sun, he viewed the huge cold swell
that came to bury them. . . and closed those eyes that knew too well.
Written years before it was posted here at Soup on 6/6/2010
Submitted 8/26/2022
for Mark Toney's 2022 Poetry Marathon Mile 13 Poetry Contest
I've deleted this acrostic from the competition for personal reasons.
SORRY, J. D.
G lorious was the morning I climbed the Scottish highland
R adiant warmth of Summer's sun shimmered over the trail
E mblazoned with clover, near a forested Wych Elm stand
A stonished at the scenic vista, my lofty imagination set sail
T raipsing across the North Sea, I was Captain in command
E lusive was the tailwind on my adventurous nautical escape
S cotland clamored for my return, 'Make haste. Hurry home!
C ast your notions upon the wind. Your spinnaker, undrape
A nother day will you play, when in illusory flight you roam
P erchance invite another dreamer and don your Tartan cape
E mbark upon a getaway beyond the heathered hills of loam'
There across the movie screen,
treats were dancing and
telling us to find them at
the concession stand.
Yes, I knew I should not go.
I‘d just eaten lunch.
At the snack bar, they beguiled,
“Have a little munch!”
M & M’s and Hershey bars -
chocolaty delight -
with such smooth deep voices asked
me to take a bite!
Hot dogs nearly barked out, “Don’t
let us go to waste!”
Meanwhile candies sweetly sang,
“Have a little taste.”
Then an Ice cream bar chimed in,
“Take a bite of me!
I can take a licking too
and most happily.”
Pepperoni pizza was
sure a little tease.
calling out with Nachos, “Hey,
We’ve got lots of cheese!”
At that dine-in theater
clamored other food.
Subway, Arby’s, many more
sounding rather rude.
They were all competing , but
Popcorn filled the air
with its heady butter scent.
What a circus there!
All were screaming out to me
(though I don’t know why),
“Bite me! Bite me!” Don’t foods know
bitten, they will die?
Well, I bought the popcorn as
my dear hubbie sighed,
“We already had our lunch.”
“Bite me,” I replied.
In 7/5 Trochee Form for the Bite Me Contest of John Lawless
With a parting of the crimson seas,
they aren't appeased with just a smile
That girl who walks the star-struck mile
will pay a price that goes unseen
They catch a glimpse and swallow whole.
Then nonchalantly steal her soul,
with no remorse or thought of deeds, ...
just goals to slice her thin, and spill her name,
upon red carpets dyed with greed.
Beneath stiletto stilts she comes.
They think it's fun behind the lie,
that masquerades to dazzle eyes.
Are lonely hearts so worth the prize
while clamored lust engulfs and drowns?
The flashbulbs light the milky way
while voices scream among the fray,
and peel the starlight's skin away.
There is a hole, deep in the dark,
as black as death without a spark
A friend to trust, or out to gain?
To rub a shoulder, hug the fame?
She's guided by an elbow's charm,
disarmed, by tabloids, drowns alone
They're hell-bent on the mystery
The secrets of her universe
A paper doll is thrown to wolves,
is just a soul who has rehearsed
to fade and die, alone........
alone.......with a million flashbulbs drugging her,
...then dragging her.....as she tumbles from the throne....
______________________________________________
For the Contest: Cynosure
Sponsor : Nayda Ivette Negron
The path was long and arduous
And night began to veer
O’er trees, and lanes and rusted gates
Its' shadows breeding fear
Unbridled Wind wisped ‘round
Tombstone crosses where
Hissing its’ frustration
Loudly in despair
It sought to nourish fears
The shadows did create
Searching everywhere to find
It’s soul-less night-time mate.
Moonbeam light kissed the Night
Claiming shadows as their child
Together then in lock-step
They bent on running wild
And there, where he awaited
Their cold inspiring touch
With doctrines of all Evils
Firmly in his clutch
The blackness in his heart,
Thumping ‘neath his frock
Soon it’s rancid maladies
The Wind would there unlock
Thoughts of what’s to come
Then twisted lips to smile
Revealing stained and yellowed teeth
Trapping breath so rank and vile
‘twas then The Prince of Avarice
Rose and stood erect
The world would soon be his
To ravage and infect
His eyes of snake, both bespake
Behind their reptile lids
The embrace of the doctrine
For no Evils it forbids
The Wind increased its’ howling
Icy fingers pushing fro
Arranging fallen hopes
Into a dead rouleau
And you and I so un-suspect
Of pending alchemy
Believing we were safe inside
Cocoons of normalcy.
Our naiveté so firmly grasped
Caused us to belie
The chaos we knew not …
‘twas there, and drawing nigh
As Wind fingers touched him
He yelled out his decree:
“ The Prince of Avarice shall reign
And destroy Democracy!”
His school of ghouls, dunce and fools
Clamored to his side
Greed having won the day
Was about to take It’s ride!
Greed, first blessed the banks
And Wall Street did rejoice
The Prince of Avarice then silenced
All protestor ‘s voice
With lies and propaganda
All fabricated well
Then all the bankers rang
The borrowers death knell
Morgan Stanley, AGI,
Then ‘twas Goldman-Sachs
Raking in what Greed gave out:
Billions in green-backs.
Glutted bankers,
Through laughter Greed had honed
Uncaringly showed the world
A prediction - their prodrome
Of broken dreams, foreclosure schemes
Insuring that which failed
But jobs the cost, as homes were lost
And not a banker jailed.
St. John gave its pupils arithmetic
I glided through these
Like breeze of Belize
Los Angeles City College leveled me
Algebra had me on my knees
YET
I clamored to Cal. State, Long Beach,
Where Information Science sacked me
I fought back on campus lush lawns
Lingered crossed-leg in summer sun
WON
My grade was not an F
I graduated and felt blessed.
*
Swingers of drenching waters
Drifters of fini coasters
Skating on lines of lakes and rivers
Dancing as spiral rafters
Bowing down before the sunny skies
Elongating wings of frozen cries
Beaks of clamored pleas
Speaks with enamored gees
Lake of praying feathers
Wake of snowy, silent breeders
Flakes of glowing winter chills
Ice plates dining on easter bills
Swan lake of fondest quest
Prancing eyes of widest dress
Seven swans spanning the hidden cove
Species of the blessed world
The curtain rose on a cloudless night
Once More! the crowd clamored
A lone table across the room, a candle
Flickered
Shooting stars lit the sky like confetti
Bowing to the maestro in the pit
Impossible had no meaning
Fireflies sparked in anticipation
Bus service was cancelled
The daily mail, undelivered
At that moment
That precise moment
The telephone rang
Gently, I lifted the phone off the
Cradle
And heard the words I had waited
So long to hear
04/13/13
© All Rights Reserved
Tootle Lou clamored to enter the hive,
Snooty queen's pheromones said, "Your antenna's not jive."
Tootle Lou retired to her bachelorette tree,
A wasp with child declared, "No vacancy!"
Tootle Lou landed in a virgin's church hat,
Escaped with her life as the boyfriend slapped.
She entered a bedroom of sugar and spice,
Nestled to sleep with Teddy's blind mice.
Tootle Lou awakened to warm sunshine,
Searched for bright flowers of nectar sublime.
Tootle Lou befriended an overstuffed dove (good thing, too)
Who said, "Tootle Lou, fly west, that's what you should do."
So she buzzed to the west -- her wings nearly fell,
Predators savoring her exo-shell.
A spotted man pasted with honey and bees
Beckoned her stop for a drop of lemon tea.
Tootle Lou now holds her court in a darkly lit royal cell,
Laying out her progeny with prolific excel.
This queenly quote to all outsiders from a lucky mother's daughter:
"Perseverance really rocks but fate rolls out the order."
Connor Constrictor
crept through the carpet.
Marianne Marmot
marched through the market
singing, “Hi hey hi hey hi hey ho!”
Boys and girls join in singing,
“Hi hey hi hey hi hey ho!”
Tutu Toucan
turned to and fro
while Wally Walrus
watched in slow mo.
Singing, “Hi hey hi hey hi hey ho!”
Boys and girls join in singing,
“Hi hey hi hey hi hey ho!”
Kami Chameleon
chewed a crumpet
and Tommy Tortoise
tuned up his trumpet
playing, “Hi hey hi hey hi hey ho!”
Boys and girls join in singing,
“Hi hey hi hey hi hey ho!”
All the animals
clamored for more,
more of the funny
musical score
singing, “Hi hey hi hey hi hey ho!”
Boys and girls join in singing,
“Hi hey hi hey hi hey ho!”
Son of the rising sun; a child of prowess.
Hatched from the spawn of the raiders' conquest.
He rose from the trail of the claws that raid.
His sage was a tale that became a legend.
His serene spirit yearned for awareness.
He sailed across seas to muster the knowledge.
But his quest for freedom dragged his feet back to home,
where the heart of wisdom was long-waiting to hone.
He fought fiercely with his pen in quest for liberty
when the wrath of men clamored for anarchy.
His sagacious spirit wielded the courage
of the soldiers that craved to ward off the raid.
He offered his life glancing at the dawn
so the gloomy eyes in grief would see the rising sun.
His blood that spilled has fueled the fury
that snatched liberty from the claws of foray.
February 27, 2023
Writing Challenge - H Words - Poetry Contest (3rd place)
Sponsored By: Constance La France
Cobblestone Echoes
by Odin Roark
Ancient stone
keeper of darkness
of auras reaped from high seas
vast is your harvest
from earth rumblings beset by molten tears
to charred obsidian made hard
glass reflecting where primates once clamored upon
From paws a running
sniffed calloused drippings in peril
where sandal swathed footsteps
dodged blade and spear
as wash water dumped from high
added slippery footing for predators ever lustful
ever hungry
ever historic
Now the high noon of modern life
the wonder among your melodies
amidst recent fabrications emulating your path
you the wrinkled skin spirit of ancient masons
who served sun-baked feasts
from the past of pasts
Alas…
Genuine micro-canyons of irrigated seed and drift
send the spirits aloft from once grasses high
reminding us that while calendars may crumble
time’s enduring stone of old remains original
transcending the language of vowel and consonant
acknowledging the reach of sentient eye to eye
the whispered caress beneath a Nike sole
sharing the tongues of old
echoing the murmurs of weary travelers
the severed limbs of warriors
the rivers of plasma-red passion
polishing fossils within
within
within
Yet many choose faking Nature’s setting
even making ready counterfeit copies
to pacify the blind living without preference
massaging serpentine monsters of ignorance
whose Gucci laced feet now prance upon this facsimile
sold as make-believe
glittering’s bondage
hidden in fakery
having not a clue of the Carthaginians
or Mediterranean isles of blood and sweat
from whence it all came
For like Rodeo Drive’s cobblestone plazas
where modern celebrity prisons of today
masquerade as credible reality for borrowed tomorrows
knockoff décor identity everlasting
unaware their own history
reaches inevitable fade out
may never know the hidden messages
Perhaps…
The subtle cacophony of shadow and whisper
cobblestone’s enigmatic infernal
made orchestral for those who can hear
those who dare see through the darkness
those who can be moved and touched by
shadowed silence protected with truth
will experience the magic
How few seem to hear the deafening message
My Story of Nigeria....
Inflation rate high
Regionalism become noxious
Life's expensive in the South
Ritualist in the East
Fraudsters in the West
Poverty in the North
My Story of the North...
Bandit and kidnappers on the highway,
No free road to ride without a raid,
Demand for ransom,
Only with currency,
People's clamored,
government worldless
Media houses turn to medium of segregation,
Social media turn to social division..
My story of North.....
Life without liberty
Sleepless nights to the masses
Gunshot gunned down my neighbor
People becomes prey without prayers
Everyday promises from the army
Solution cease from existence
My Story of North...
Attack to kidnap
Community slaughtered
Blood spill out
Many become homeless
Live lost!!
Job to jobless
Youth traveled beyond the region,
For a greener pastures...
While the region's pastures is parched...
My Story of North
Bloodshed is an everyday affairs,
Everyday Newspapers news saddened..
Attack on the masses,
Houses burn down to ashes
Mass burial in the community
Wives becomes widows
Children becomes orphans
My Story of North
Only few with a voice
Many voice become voiceless
Youth resort to drugs,
Ladies to prostitution..
Parents create hostility within...
Majority dominance, minorities impotence..
Minority tribes divided
No love but hate..
On the day Tarit marched off to war,
he embraced fair Vekka, pledging fealty,
as her little sister Genki made faces and
tugged at Vekka’s skirts, jealous.
Genki, with her stick limbs and sticky lips
and scabby elbows and nesty hair,
hooted as Tarit trotted
to catch up with his regiment,
and chased after him, waving her snotty hanky,
till her short legs tired
And when death’s racket clamored no more
and Tarit returned to his beloved Vekka,
he found her clasped in another man’s arms,
with a toddler in tow,
and whitewashed fences all around
Tarit took the pendant he’d worn
through seven years of carnage–
a wedding ring for his betrothed–
and untied it from its cord
and slipped it onto a scraggly branch
of the rose bush by the gate,
noting naught but thorns
And as he turned away from the house of his beloved,
he beheld a sprout fruitioned,
and when Genki took the ring from the roses
and slipped it on her finger,
Tarit clasped her hand and brought her close,
and nestled his face in her well-combed hair
Inspired by: (Aunt Olga Martha Valentine)
Alone, you stood as golden dream, silent
Some always fluttered about, others flinched
But I still believe you were heaven sent
From age to age with brilliance, you did teach.
I clamored, savoring each wondrous view
Good folks unite! There'll be songs, not a fight
You've showered me with warm vibes good as news
From valley to schoolhouse, then church, we both climbed high.
Yes, will, wit, and wisdom does reign
Two wings, metamorphosis, days of bliss
You and I will never be the same
Our Maker has ordained the course of this...
Yet in His name, we're diamond in sunlight
His touch to everyone grants new insight.
*