Best Contexts Poems
Glorious hues arise from halo of morning sky
As dreamy eyes take me on a wondrous ride
Where cottony clouds scatter layers of purple
Adorning with shades of heliotrope flowers.
On my ride I visualize a celestial place on earth
Hearing fairy tales from fabled views unfolding,
And I ask my yawning bushes to vacate at once
So I can plant my lilac garden in sunrise colors.
Mesmerized by purple cues in orchid motifs
My day traversed gaily in enchanting overtones,
When clouds spewing gray darkened my show
Blocking twilight from glistening reddish glow.
Having lost sunrise, I hang on to sinking sunset
Assured by its scenic prowess I build my place
Near the lone lamp on street that is yet to be lit
Yearning for vistas of my daydream to repeat.
My place now occupies best of both worlds
Rising with mornings and setting with evenings,
Mimicking splendid hues of evocative contexts
Adoring fervent daybreaks and dreamy sunsets.
February 15, 2018
First Place:Sunrise and sunset contest by Silent One
Also placed first in ultimate 2018 contest by Brian Strand
Categories:
contexts, nature, sunset, sunshine,
Form:
Free verse
Her appearance
I cannot express
But sure I know her
in the flesh
In myriad contexts can she speak
though she's not multilingual
She may be married, maybe single
in every crowd she mingles
She's made of iron and forged in fire
a mountain-mover, soaring higher
And when the battle's over and done
she digs right in for the very next one
Categories:
contexts, dedication, fire, war,
Form:
Personification
While reading the delightful novels of *Maugham
My mind drifted to the enchanting streets of Paris.
Teaching the plays of Moliere, my *roamings started
Over entrancing *National theatre of Paris, or the Globe
Next day reading aloud the poem “My luv was like a red…”
The captivating poem of the bard Robert Burns of *Eyre
Shifting to Dublin to feel the romance of *the Abbey
And the play School for Scandal of Richard Sheridan.
There are patterns and patterns of fascinating dreams
And I knew creativity and genius don’t come from patterns
Like Mark Twain I had no unpleasant or stressful situations
As is said daydreaming or dreams deride non-productive pastime
But can be constructive in some contexts of fine arts or science
Proved to be a enrapturing realities in the later years of my life
Visiting all the dreamed-of-places of my day-dreaming raptures.
But still daydreaming has not left me as I have still dreams of
Visiting the entrancing lands of Anna Karenina and *Nora Helmer.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Six place win
Contest: Any Poem Goes
* The Roamings is the title of my book published in 2001
* Somerset Maugham, the great novelist
*National Theatre of Paris where Moliere acted and wrote.
*Eyre the birth place of Burns I visited in 1989
*The Abbey in Ireland as famous as The Globe of London
*Mark Twain has written about a tragic incident while daydreaming.
Categories:
contexts, dream,
Form:
Free verse
Number of Man
(Webster’s Ninth)
Money trail reveals factor
To assemble humans follow layout
Swat down charges with linguistic racket
Sticks more effective than carrot dangle
Arguments sustained by pundits' jangle
Beached on shallow force Fed truths we paddle
Pedantic pets get paddle
First world states where offspring are a factor
Searching for meaning results in jangle
Pogroms programmed in digital layout
Preach peace while children from clotheslines dangle
Dichotomy the full courtpress racket
Tax credit skin trade racket
Birth control for those learning to paddle
Tout facts as contexts, like syntax, dangle
Infrastructure to control the factor
Roman Rhodes lead all through latent layout
Deaf ears strain to hear warning bell’s jangle
Legalized fictions jangle
Integration catalyzed by racket
A body of work produced for layout
Leaves us without proverbial paddle
Multiply the lie to find the factor
What tales are told from the yardarm dangle
Join the police state dangle
Riot inciting projection jangle
Plausibility denying factor
The legislative extortion racket
Brings independence beneath the paddle
All contingencies covered by layout
Camp Kapos marked for layout
Every scapegoat has his day to dangle
No room for slaves who refuse to paddle
Loose lips fill shipping lanes by their jangle
Synthetic avatars fuel our racket
Never ask what long term effects factor
Layout a dialectic to jangle
Dangle clues via distracting racket
Paddle but fail to account for the Factor
© L.K. Hobbs 2018
Categories:
contexts, evil, philosophy, political, rights,
Form:
Sestina
While reading the ADMIRABLE novels of *Maugham
My mind drifted to the enchanting streets of Paris.
Teaching the plays of Moliere, my roamings started
Over CAVING *National theatre of Paris, or the Globe.
Next day reading aloud the poem “My luv was like a red…”
The captivating poem of the bard Robert Burns of *Eyre
Shifting to Dublin to feel the BOUNTY of *the Abbey
And the play School for Scandal of Richard Sheridan.
There are patterns and patterns of fascinating dreams
And I knew creativity and genius do face monolith
Like Mark Twain I had no unpleasant or stressful HOVELS
As is said daydreaming or dreams are derided zarebas
But can be constructive in some contexts of fine arts or science
Proved to be TRANSPARENT realities in the later years of my life
Visiting all the dreamed-of-places of my day-dreaming raptures.
But still daydreaming has not left me as I have still dreams of
Visiting the entrancing lands of Anna Karenina and *Nora Helmer.
+++++++++++++++
Date:2-4-14
Form: Free Verse
Eighth Place win
Contest by Shadow Hamilton
Categories:
contexts, dream,
Form:
Free verse
(Author's note: Traditions of walking a labyrinth as a form of meditation go back many centuries. Labyrinths in Christian contexts usually have a single, winding path instead of a maze’s many possible dead-end paths. Mazes are puzzles to be solved. Labyrinths are tools for meditation.)
Life Labyrinths
By Mark D. Stucky
Nothing frightful lurks in sacred labyrinths.
No Minotaur inside waits to devour us.
No complex branches exist to confuse us.
Only a single, circular path,
winding back and forth,
silently invites us.
A path sketched on the ground.
A path for prayerful healing
of any monsters in our minds.
A path intended for mindfulness,
peace, and private pilgrimage
toward contemplative centeredness.
As in life, our path curves
and endures sudden detours
and substantial reversals.
Our goal comes closer to us
but then recedes from us
over and over again.
But we can be certain
we’ll eventually enter
that elusive center.
(Originally published on Amethyst Review, 1 July 2022.)
(Photo by Erez Attias on Unsplash.com.)
Categories:
contexts, mental health, metaphor, religion,
Form:
Free verse
The French word for ‘cockroach’ is ‘le cafard’.
In some contexts it can mean ‘depression’.
But for the soldiers always standing guard,
‘Avoir le cafard’ refers to boredom.
I’ve heard war has been described as follows:
“Ninety percent boredom, the rest: TERROR”.
It’s true for those hiding in their hollows,
Whether combatant or stretcher-bearer.
My times in combat zones weren’t too awful.
I heard the occasional “BOOM!” or “CRACK!”.
Of friends that I knew that went to Mosul,
Everyone (Some shrapnel wounds) made it back.
But I knew some who never came back home;
At least one who suicided at home.
Categories:
contexts, conflict, death, depression, fear,
Form:
Sonnet
I think about intelligence
And wonder why we think our due
Is sanctioned by our own IQ
That natural inheritance
Compels us by unbending laws
To evolutionary cause
That beggars to irrelevance
The truth that brains can be a threat
That make it easy to forget
The most compelling evidence
That intellect may well provide
A rationale for venal pride
Displacing sounder temperaments
With logical proficiency
Ignoring self-deficiency
And cultivates intolerance
With vanity incredulous
And tidy, hidden prejudice
That blithely leads to negligence
Denying those less capable
In contexts inescapable
I much prefer the elegance
Of caring for the other guy
Of answering a helpless cry
Of principled benevolence
That intellect cannot be taught
Beyond the wit of reasoned thought
I think about intelligence
That natural inheritance
That beggars to irrelevance
The most compelling evidence
Displacing sounder temperaments
And cultivates intolerance
That blithely leads to negligence
I much prefer the elegance
Of principled benevolence
Written July 5, 2018
Categories:
contexts, discrimination, humanity, prejudice,
Form:
Rhyme
Rotating Door
(M J Halliday 20140623)
I stepped through the rotating door,
To be born in a nameless land.
Recycled again, like before...
A soul as ageless as the sand.
No one escapes mortality.
I stepped through the rotating door.
Spent the next life in a city
Among the disenfranchised poor.
The next few lives were marred by war;
Civilizations rose and fell.
I stepped through the rotating door.
A General said "War is Hell".
This time around, I can recall
Glimpses of what happened before.
In broad contexts, this life seems small.
I stepped through the rotating door.
Categories:
contexts, death, life, time, visionary,
Form:
Quatern
We have two ears
But many people can’t still hear
Different contexts
Breed different blockages
People often write because no one listens
Marriages can fall apart
Because partners often don’t listen to each other
Defending their cause
They give themselves applause
Not realizing the cause can be a listening deficit!
People often write because no one listens
Different contexts
Breed different blockages
We have two ears
But many people can’t still hear
When they are in their situation
Don’t only hear what you want to hear!
Listen
Because people often write because many do not listen
Mark Frank
Copyright 2023
Categories:
contexts, emotions,
Form:
Free verse
English prides itself on being a well-spring of today’s language
like a magpie that freely picks up foreign words elsewhere
with an attempt to incorporate them into its richness of vocabulary;
a great endeavor that makes sense to be a global lexicon these days.
It’s a continuing effort that knows no barrier with other nations,
to the world of cultures with an attitude of openness and expansion;
widens one’s horizon and enables one to get a habit of insertion,
recognized as an inspiration that becomes a treasure trove of information.
Interesting it may be to find one’s word from a particular culture
that insertion in the dictionary which is a constant guide to everyone;
a close study, a reference to certain thoughts, backgrounds, and origins,
these words provide their meanings and usages in sentence constructions.
Yet their phonetic spellings are great indications to pronounce them well
according to history or origin that supply right definitions and implications,
their etymological meanings, derivations or other shades of meanings;
in their contextual variations or figurative implications thus far.
As they possess the power of meanings or as an identity of every word,
their roles make substance and clarity to what is necessary to understand;
they make a difference; they serve like guardian angels in every way,
whose central tenet and mission explore guidance and comprehension.
Webster’s, Oxford, McQuarie or Thesaurus as dictionaries used these days,
with idiomatic expressions provided in different contexts and origins;
however, profound or different as applied in many human situations,
they convey wisdom; so rich that many times they’re used in today’s parlance.
Words, words, words, as Hamlet famously moaned when Polonius asked him;
what he reads and wrestles with words and meanings generate an answer,
it’s the same thing with one’s attitude to consult or refer to a lexicon,
a dictionary, a thesaurus, or any similar print that provides meanings –
words that draw the link between history and experiences of humanity.
Categories:
contexts, dedication, faith, on writing
Form:
Concrete
Another time Musings
Where roads add, alongside cars that multiply,
So also power supply, as its need grows,
Where folks do not , from social duties, fly
And, due care, for those dying slow deaths, bestow,
Where cooking gas refills are in prompt supply,
Rice with bran intact and similar stuff flow,
Where, with toxin-free-veg , markets are full,
And in public spaces, men are just helpful
Where dissent is not democracy’s sole proof
Not a law-unto-itself is the police
Where price -line don’t daily hit the poor roof
And politicians can not be had on’ lease’
Where governance is beyond all reproof
And women could walk streets in total peace
Where peace, love and justice make a haven
May I one day wake into that heaven.
21 mar 12
S.Jagathsimhan Nair
For: Nette’s “A moment in another time” contest
Inspired by: Tagore’s famous” Where the mind is without fear….”.
This poem is locale-specific, reflecting the way things are here, where, among all the good things that had happened, certain failings too stand out, like, roads that had seen no development in hundred years when its vehicular traffic grew thousand fold , power shutdowns that over years deteriorated to the present twelve hours a day ,and corruption and misuse of democratic freedoms that had become rather the rule than an exception, and instances of man’s pettiness against man that had lately become so obvious in public spaces, etc. And hence what is expressed may not ring entirely relevant for all readers in their respective contexts.
Categories:
contexts, day, introspection, life, power,
Form:
Ottava rima
Two faced fox from beneath the shadows
Prepackaged blush the manipulative wallows
Irrational cupidity earthed in lies
Imminently causing fitting cries
Acute observations to every detail
Questions asked but to no avail
Reprehensible plight wears temperance thin
And convincingly accounts for the insurmountable win
Clarity of worth is only there in the lack of
Contradictions and assumptions strikingly thereof
In effect attempts are marked as feeble
Noteworthy endeavors deemed as terrible
Given that honesty less jest were sought
If only beyond the bridge were given thought
Contexts beyond the cusp could have been prevented
The discussion ends when this poem has ended
Categories:
contexts, angst, love
Form:
Rhyme
The iconography of childhood gives more vivid memories,
like an inward looking that draws to depth and human connections;
those relationships with family members, friends, and relations
the best of times and known to be the memorable years gone by.
To stir the pot and get myself riled up about human depth –
in many areas of concern and struggles to cope with life,
a culture of love gets developed and rolls through the years;
a dependable compass, an anchor that assures great strength.
It’s the habit of my mind and heart that keeps me growing
immersing constantly in the ordinariness of my routines;
form certain messages that shape my choices and decisions;
elsewhere in the context that brings me to embrace what life really is.
Perhaps it’s good to connect the wisdom of the past to present situation;
there’s complimentarity of actions with vision and interior inspiration
yes, with sense of connection and willingness to proclamation;
God, indeed, makes the experience worth thinking and sharing.
The crucible of commitment to the values of God’s kingdom,
reflects my interior disposition to enhance them through actions;
with endless thinking, meditating and ruminating the Sacred Scriptures,
can crown the heart that speaks volumes about dedication to my vocation.
There’s still the umbilical cord of my calling since childhood,
the ‘yes’ to God, the source and author of my priestly life;
with a great deal about ‘how I live and live out of my love,
like a climate change, a moral wavelength wedded to my calling.
Truly, it’s a never ending affair with God in many contexts,
amid the advancing forces of secularism and modernity;
not an easy world to live with; a real challenge with strident voices,
with so many meanings and understandings as life unfolds.
To find the language which describes mobility in my spirituality,
a point in time which braces for my daily encounter with God;
his mysterious signs and wonders that make me walk with him,
in worship and service to Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.
Categories:
contexts, faith, imagination, introspection, life,
Form:
Narrative
History publishes eco-political winners
and probably not mystery marginalized also-rans.
NeoCortex dominant pursuits
of growing cognitive information,
knowledge and facts,
comprehension of Earth's regenerative
and degenerative systems
and cosmological nest-network;
these objectives evolve scientific politically empowered paradigms
fueled by our collective economic investments of time and money
understanding of their relational contexts,.
All our biggest and best rational research projects
are multiculturally empowered
by anthropocentric political choices
to invest in cooperative economic promulgation relationships
of neurosystemically accessible discovery.
In this anthro-sensory enlightened market
choosing among alternative methods for comprehending
positive and negative co-relations
within an eco-politically privileged anthropocentric laboratory,
within an anthropological family,
within LeftBrain dominant articulation
of healthy-regenerative
and pathology-degenerative outcomes
within multicultural languages
a cooperatively-held paradigm of scientific method
disassociated from sacred ecological
and organically interdependent
Whole EarthTribe panentheistic
empowering and disempowering systems.
Evolution of personal and familial,
community and national
and global learning
follows a string of historically sustained
LeftBrain verbally dominant
anthropocentrically economic
and political choices
about which positive
and negative co-relationships
matter
Within our polyculturally climaxing/collapsing
Gaian Hypothesis,
and which will keep you too mysteriously
synergetically
mysteriously
intuitively
re-ligiously
sacred ecologically unpublished
and untenured
Unless you are one of the few
still eking out a living
in the indigenous wisdom
PolyTheistic
NonDualistic
pre-Anthropocene
bicamerally co-intelligent
ReLigious History of Mystery Department.
Categories:
contexts, culture, destiny, health, science,
Form:
Political Verse