Best Cliffside Poems
what candle pressed against the wind
a winding trail unfolds
down the cliffside
into the storm
where a treasure lies to behold
a thousand jagged teeth
Peirce the roiling spew
a promise of paradise
the desperate never knew
and down the cliff should you falter
lose your balance and fall
in hopes of happy ever after
soon never after all
Standing cynical and numb on the cliffside, watching the waves flow, tumble, then crash up against the jagged rocks below.
Little bubbles of sea foam pop and crackle as they slide across the rocky beach shore.
The water ebbs back again to repeat the cycle; it goes back home just to be pushed out again
The salty sea breeze catches your loose hair,
just a few strands at first,
just enough to feel… something,
just enough to remind you something is there.
Before long, the wind picks up
and tosses your unbounded hair around in swirling gusts of unbridled resilience,
to get an easier path to whisper sweet nothings into your ear,
promising flight and unwavering freedom,
promising serenity found in the unending horizon,
promising harmony and complete wholeness.
The wind understands.
The wind empathizes with your pain.
The wind draws thin comforting fingers across your cheek
and breathes compassionate vows into your restless soul.
“The wind understands,” it promises.
You look down in shame, knowing no one is to be trusted enough to believe such things.
“Just come with me, my meek child. All will be well.”
The wind tempts as it brushes your hair behind your ear.
The wind runs down your neck, ruffles your dress, and spreads your arms wide as the wings of the gulls over your head.
The wind slips down your sleeve to billow your skirts.
The wind beguiles you closer to the cliff’s edge,
“To get a better feel of the openness around you,” the wind assures.
and in the moment the wind runs through your fingers,
you feel enough of the sky that for a moment you believe the whispering wind siren.
You finally let go and let the breeze sweep you up,
lifting you into the vast sky.
You embrace the promised freedom and smile at every peaceful whip of wind
right before you are thrown into the sea
and the awaiting rocks.
The heaven's lanterns she commands,
The harmony of ocean's harp.
Her moonlit shadow firmly stands,
And merges at the hem of scarp.
As I approach, afraid to speak,
Her illustration disappears.
Alone I brave the mountain peak,
Her cosmic voice still in my ears.
Express'd within the spectral mist,
Her tender kiss, conveyed so soft.
And on her words, I do subsist;
A multitude of miles aloft.
I then behold the sight surreal,
And ponder secretly my choice:
"Shall I take flight? (My fate I'll seal),
Or will I die a silent voice?"
My reasoning was then postponed.
Her beck'ning gaze that I adhere,
Came back to seize my love, dethroned.
Her sympathy was so austere.
I saw the sky, in half was split.
Beheld the universe immense.
Her fragrance rendered counterfeit
In face of harsh liquid incense.
I spied the Owl in the monsoon,
And glimpsed the Lark with grace outdone.
The former dancing with the moon,
The latter weeping for the sun.
And in her treason, I confide,
In holding on to but her arm.
The temptress of the cliff, my bride,
Will keep me far away from harm.
And so we danced on sky-high rocks,
The temptress of the cliff and I.
Disregarding all the clocks
That once beguiled us from the sky.
And on this cliffside masterpiece,
I felt my life was then complete.
With all my joy and inner peace,
I plunged a hundred-thousand feet.
She stood there singing to the draft,
High up that rocky balcony.
With her success, she cruelly laughed
At my stalemate epiphany.
Temptation preys on ill of wit.
So brook your life's pathetic tiff.
Above all things, do not submit
To her, the temptress of the cliff.
High winds - stirring sea - surf pounds - Whitby beach
Storm clouds - residual - seagulls - frantic cry
Midnight - a figure - in view - ascending
Bowed down - wearily - cliff steps - Abbey bound
Skywards - waning moon - purple - in streaking
Figure - looking down - last time - hesitates
Cliffside - beckoning - then moves - in seeing
A flash - lightening - from grave - arising
Hungry - Dracula - no escape - figure froze
Exposed - vulnerable - a scream - was stifled
No-one - witnessing - horror - stricken face
Could, would - testify - to what - next took place.
I just love to watch Dateline
And Forty-Eight Hours Mystery…
I often scream at my television
‘How stupid can someone be?’
Their internet searches are careless
Looking up such truly awful things
‘The best way to strangle someone’
‘murder 4 hire’; braggin’ bout their flings!
Cell phone pings surely don’t lie
Rental car records-easy to trace
Tire impressions and fingerprints
Idiots leave DNA all over the place!
Then there are the ones who crack
Confessing at the station
They should have shut their trap
Plead the fifth, interrogation cessation
I’ve strategized about what I'd do...
Lie in wait behind a bush?
Use Poison? Peaceful smothering?
Or maybe a little cliffside push?
Most killers are foolish, careless
As they bid their freedom ‘adieu’
I am far more calculating, clever
Smart enough to not tell you!
Written by: Natalie Flikkema
For Susan’s ‘Getting Away with Murder/Murderous Thoughts’ Contest
***Now if you’ll excuse me…I’ve got to go ignite my hard drive :) ****
I'm sad today
Because I let all the best in me, turn and walk away
I miss the way you'd laugh at the absurd things that I'd say
The hours and the patience spent, driving home the truth
I'm not funny, I'm not special, I'm not ANYTHING without you
The castle that you conjoured with your hope and dreams and charms
Mean nothing for the princess who was banished from your arms
I never meant for ice to form and futher cool the breeze
Developed from the manic time I brought you to your knees
Oh god I'm sorry
I'M ****ING SORRY
said the princess to the wind
as she tries to recall the moment her mind became unhinged
My hands enshroud my face as I remember wistfully
All that love I took for granted, just cos I believed
There there was more than this, than us, than nights blurred into day
No sense of time.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
Though I'd erase the times I turned my back on precious things
That I discarded, disregarded the ecstacy love brings
Still trapped by my own selfishness, beat by my vehemence
Fighting back emotion as I suffer every consequence
I know we said we're soulmates but Im sorry, mine was sold
It's sudden, bitter lifelessness had started growing mould
My shallow breaths were not enough, I failed you again
I couldn't keep the one last thing that kept me safe and sane
I'VE LOST EVERYTHING
wailed the princess to the sea
and let go of the cliffside, she fell eternally.
The calls of the flocks to this years migration
a roving community of birds in each nation
rising and diving above mists in the rocks
the drawing together for birthing new flocks
The coo of the crane in a wetland bog
the bob of its head when its nabbed a frog
opened winged geese in passages soar
north back to south or a western shore
Above our earth the traversing vast miles
into the snowfall or cliffside defiles
a race upon water to lure this years mate
or share in the catch a dance woven like date
Such grace of movement their wings on the breeze
like rhythms beating to ascend above trees
how can one capture such beauty so grand
of a creatures decent upon sky upon land
Motion so elegant their journey's in sky
mankinds observations our own desire to fly
the form of their pinions upon outstreched wings
to follow freedom this kind of life dreams
Lowlands or Highlands the wild fowl domains
in deserts or plateaus aviary terrains
on pole ice or islands you'll find their rests
every year you'll find them their community nests
COPYRIGHT © 2012 C Michael Miller
via Duboff Law Group LLC
"The Young and the Breathless"- TV soap opera about youg emphysema
patients unfaithful to their doctors.
Candid- Something you could do, and did do.
Phone Call- Bidding your phone to come to you.
Binary- What you can purchase with nary any money.
Nascent- Odorless.
Philosophy- Phil Silvers designing soffits.
Surcharge- Driving down Rt. Number One on the Big Sur at 70 mph.
Surplus- The addition of the above's wrecked car to the cliffside base below the
aforementioned highway.
Supplant- Burying the idiot victims of the above, around dinner time.
Sunglasses- Drinking vessels for our Solar companion.
Sunspots- Where my male offspring hangs out.
Gnome, Alaska- The city in Alaska where the Travelocity icon was found frozen
solid.
DVDs- Defective BVD shorts.
Tuba-fish- Edible fish from an all-fish marching band.
Leak-Proof- Applying Super-Glue to the tip of one's *****.
Leave of Absence- Finding your mate has disappeared into a pile of leaves.
Eavesdrop- Falling off the edge of your roof.
Ecosystem- A ritualized style of producing an echo in a jar.
Sentiment- when a Mob boss orders cement for a mob "funeral".
Cyclone- an artificially duplicated person's mild vocalization of sadness.
Elfin John- Small, bespeckled gay singer/songwritter.
Elongate- Turnstyle in the NYC subway system, to the "E" train, expanded in size
for fat people.
"It Takes A Leaf"- How to catch poison ivy.
Hopin' to give a smile to Christy in her time of trouble.
Vast Cliffside, soaring
Cold sea mist dilutes my past
A bird’s life ... present
Crow (Blackus Menacingus)
large, clever and a scavenger
found in gardens where there’s trees
good at puzzles, can be trained
likes TV shows about celebrities
Blackbird (Blackus Not-A-Pirateus)
common gardeners friend is he
perched on the handle of a spade
looking out for bugs and worms
went on a holiday to Adelaide
Thrush (Not-The-Itchyus Sortus)
light brown plumage with spotted front
easily identifiable medium bird
known for a complex, tuneful song
makes jam tarts with lemon curd
Starling (Impressiveus In-A-Large-Flockus)
iridescent all year bird
feathers change colour in the sun
swarms in huge numbers then
off to the pub for rowdy fun
Wren (Smallus Sticky-Uppy-Tailus)
one of the tiniest garden birds
surprisingly loud and piercing voice
small, round body, quick and gone
to play boardgames and other toys
Puffin (Brightus Beakus)
black and white with colourful bill
dives the water for its food
coastal, cliffside, craggy nest
sends birthday cards that are very rude
*Image of Cherokee Piper, Four-seater single engine by Wilkie.
Lifetime Get-A-Way, A Survivors Tale
It is nineteen-eighty new years eve in less than two days,
that said--this turned a fourteener syllabic lined poem,
fourteener set of rhyming-lined poems--to paraphrase,
I had worked with his wife long before I got to know him.
Now Ruby carried on but stayed in the same line of work.
We kept in touch ever since I purchased her dad's cabin.
She said her ardent pilot spouse needed an hourly perk.
As he already owned the plane we just need some gas in.
Fundamentally, Alan purchased, Cherokee Piper,
Four-seater single engine without a pilot license,
Probable in California, but naught a car ... harder,
He's flying days only, that induces a lot of sense?
Our itinerary is, Livermore, California,
to Barstow, California--a hole, fill-up only then,
The Grand Canyon to Ruby's hotel chain, euphoria,
Cliffside cabin, wine & dine and film at Rangers station.
Phoenix, Alan's cop friend drove us to Scottsdale to my Suite
Hilton, north to a western town, rode a stagecoach, ad-lib
gunfighter, now west side Phoenix restaurant, Pinnacle's meet
New Year's Eve, no fireworks, just booze and b.b.q. rib bib
Sedona, Hopi purchased--slight loop, Meteor Crater,
Skirted unique Monument Valley, Vegas as nightfalls,
Hotel gratis tix-Music Man w/Dick Van Dyke, and dinner,
Livermore, seven p.m., sun greets us ... S.F. bay crawls.
The drive to my San Francisco home, bout a hundred miles,
The plane gas bill arrived little under nine hundred bucks,
Never stepped on a wing to board a plane--at me, Dick smiles,
Grand, Sedona, Monument, Vegas, Phoenix, again, *shucks!
2022 January 29
*9th Place*
MY FAVORITE VACATION IN RHYME
~~L MILTON HANKINS: Judged 2022 February 04
*Held hopes but it never happened again as we all moved on in life.
Wildflowers sleeping late on dewy days
Rather than traveling on mountaintops
Two flowers embrace in harmony
Cognizant of nature's patrimony
Thankful for the few good years that remain
Their love gracefully grows time and again
Their patience now merrily thrives again
Wildflowers could choose to question each day
Whether they're pleased with love's years that remain
Times that they picnic on blue mountaintops
Mindful of scenery's patrimony
In a world rejoicing harmony
All nature embraces harmony
Its beauty will gainfully grow again
Flowing through wild nature's patrimony
And rising with the new sun every day
Traveling across ancient, rugged cliffs
Primordial with thousands of years that remain
Here, they seek to triumphantly remain
With emergent nature's harmony
The journeys across grassland mountaintops
With love infinitely growing again
Nature knows to embrace the sunny day
Aware of life's unique patrimony
What breed's nature's carefree patrimony?
What will wildflowers evoke that remains?
Will they take time to value emergent days,
Basking in life's vast harmony?
The cliffside climbers all ascend again
And there emerge challenging green clifftops.
Rather than travel upon mountaintops
Consious of primeval patrimony
Wildflower's bright love gently grows again
Thankful for the modest moments that remain
Wildflowers embracing in harmony
In flower beds, sleeping late, lazy days.
The wisdom of God is his secrets
the glory of men to seek them out
but until he understands his childhood
he will cloud insight with his doubt
With our faith we can move mountains
overcome every obstacle in our road
can leap like the ibex every cliffside
and reach the gold of the motherlode
You have placed within inspiration
and in our minds to reach for stars
the diversity in planes of learning
until we make them completely ours
I bow before your majestic truths
laws of the cosmos contains no lies
the direction of its course is fixed
its movements to create us wise
Every speck we don't understand
we will seek till its truth divine
our only satisfaction its pursuit
until its completed in our mind
Only you can heal a blind man
or repair the lepers skin
transform hearts made of stone
change a man who he is within
Only your spirit can touch his inside
beyond his flesh and bone
only you can reach beyond ones sight
and heal the parts to us unknown
You have given us a need to learn
until we dig into solid rock
we will analyze every grain of sand
until its secrets we unlock
Like the sun our fires are burning
it drives what we weld in its heat
your energy warms our universe
and all its secrets we do seek
You have paved the road to wisdom
showered its path with justice and love
the power of truth and foresight
will produce the life we vision of
Genesis 1
New International Version (NIV)
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formlessand empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good,and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning —the first day.
COPYRIGHT © 2012 C Michael Miller
Via Duboff Law Group LLC
As I walk down this rugged road,
That flows through the overgrown wood;
I am reminded of the life of a Christian.
This crumbling road with its faded yellow line;
It may have difficult turns and drops,
It also has its holes and ruff spots;
But is is the only road to the top of the hill.
This road I travel is covered in dust,
And is surrounded by the darkness of the forest.
This pathway may be hard to travel,
But one step off leads to a deep fall.
The cliffside that boarders this road,
Leads to nothing except pain and despair;
And the Forests around lead to nowhere.
This road may be dangerous to be traversed:
Traveling on a road the world has cursed,
May cause us to feel all alone;
But if we stay on the path,
We will meet up with someone.
If we feel we travel alone;
It is because the Lord is watching:
Waiting for us to join Him.
We were never alone, He was there all along,
To help us around the next sharp bend.
At times the Road seems steep,
At times the holes seem deep;
But at the final step, all will be worth it,
Because the top of the hill is not the end,
But rather the start of a bright horizon.
Your own unique voice. You’re your own boss.
Sprinkle of humble and profound words.
Speaking in tongues that often crisscross.
Ink takes flight as experiential and seasonal birds.
Sprinkle of humble and profound words.
A smattering of what’s mattering in life.
Ink takes flight as experiential and seasonal birds -
The suffering, the woe, the pain, and strife.
A smattering of what’s mattering in life -
the smear of buttery imagery and ebonic light.
The suffering, the woe, the pain, and strife.
Poetics give the silent - speech, and the blind - sight.
The smear of buttery imagery and ebonic light.
A cruel twist of fate or a brilliant cliffside cascade.
Poetics give the silent - speech, and the blind - sight.
Forms, style, rhymes, refrains, freedom displayed.
A cruel twist of fate or a brilliant cliffside cascade.
Speaking in tongues that often crisscross.
Forms, style, rhymes, refrains, freedom displayed.
Your own unique voice. You’re your own boss.
12/23/2022
I just missed the contest! Oh well! Hope you all enjoy!