Best Contrast Poems
snowstorm and black nights
ice castles made for wonder ~
an absurd contrast
14/01/2021
Sun :) - A-L Andresen :)
Copyright © All Rights Reserved
Hi-Ku(7) Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Brian Strand
10th place in the contest
Poem of the Day 16/01/2021
three incisor teeth burst through fresh flesh...
opaque as pearls, strong as love, precious
beautiful baby babbles assertively
mesmerized by mishmash sounds
that her astounding mouth can make
prose poetry in its practice
as canines erupt, she moans from the ache
teeter-tottering restless to repress pain
speedily advancing in substantial strength
distracted by oblivious destructiveness
a significant stepping stone approaches
as a capable kindergarten adult
she wiggles loose her first baby tooth
receives a rich reward from a fantasy fairy
more teeth disappear like pressed piano keys
then return acutely out of tune
braces displace awkward half grins
an investment of finances and adolescence
unstoppable with seducing sweets
she sneaks cuddly candy under covers
falling asleep with sugar plum dreams
not counting a few costly cavities
free-spirited, experimental teen
meets Christina on the street
samples compelling quartz crystal
returns for seconds, as someone else disguised
mesmerized by mishmash sounds
that her astounding mouth can make
speedily advancing in substantial strength
she lucently levitates to a loftier place
a magnificent mind babbles assertively
sweeping the streets of pixie dust
no need to eat or sleep
like a firefly in heat, she dances frantically
teeter-tottering restless to repress pain
distracted by oblivious destructiveness
she visualizes voices that vivify the way
to the day's salacious survival guide
prismic vision's shimmers no longer satisfy
cotton candy granules' sweetness subsides
coming down from kaleidoscopic clouds
half-awake, she moans from the ache
shrill shrieks portray poetry's unspoken pain
death's drab projection is her heartless reflection
hocking heirlooms to trade for a transient thrill
a despondent inhabitant of tragedy
creepy crawlers invade every inch of skin
her thin figure balances a skull's shadow
irretrievable, ill-treated teeth crumble
like the city's plundered storefront windows
filthy, for granted, forlorn, fast-fading
...three feeble canine teeth remain
10-8-2023
lilac and lemons turquoise azure skies contrast romantic sound
Written: January 20, 2019 Contest: Bring Color Back Into My World
Sponsor: Kim Rodrigues
Changed climate is not a surprise
With drilling for gas on the rise
Where can life forms hide
From carbon dioxide
And methane let loose in the skies?
Neo-druids auger gas wells
And add fluids with sulfurous smells!
Are poisons they've tapped
With their magic wands trapped
Evermore by sorcerous spells?
Votes and news seem not relevant
The unrelenting elephant
In all our best rooms
Is fossil fuel's fumes
And toxins we can't circumvent
In stark contrast of textured sight,
beneath an indigo clear sky,
rugged beauty of mountains might,
reflect in waters on a sigh;
as stately pines sport ruffled trim,
ice crystals dust forest floor and rim.
For the contest; A Nature Verse
Sponsored by John Freeman
Placement: 2nd
Pharisee went into the Temple to pray
Sure of his goodness and love for God
He prayed confidently about his deeds
Fasting, tithing, praying, He did faithfully
This man was glad when the sinner came
Into the Temple with eyes downcast.
For it gave a perfect contrast to himself.
So he thanked God he wasn't like this sinner.
Sinner was bowed so very low before God.
"God have mercy on me a sinner." he whispered.
No list of good uttered, as he could see none.
Jesus said Sinner not Pharisee was justified.
Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus over to eat.
Simon didn't have servants wash Jesus feet
He didn't kiss Jesus or draw near for fear,
Fear of what others Pharisees would think.
In came a sinful woman with unkempt hair.
She wept at Jesus feet without looking up.
Carefully she wiped these feet with her hair.
Simon was now sure Jesus was no prophet
A prophet could surely tell she was a sinner.
How could he let her touch him that way?
Reading Simon's thoughts Jesus taught.
Using this contrast in real life as a lesson.
He asked Simon if there were two debts
One greater, one lesser and both forgiven.
Who would feel greater love and gratitude?
Simon replied, "The one whose debt was greater"
"Correct" said the One who would pay all debts.
Those who know their debt to God is great.
Are filled with greater love toward the Savior.
Simon showed he had little need for the Christ.
But to the woman. Jesus said, "You sins are forgiven."
"Go and sin no more." She stood free and esteemed
Precious are those who come humbly to the Lord
He will forgive and welcome them to His Family forever.
Humility. Pride. Contrast. Mixed in all of us.
People who come to God feeling worthless, Christ lifts up.
People striding in proudly, Jesus humbles to allow entry.
For the Lord's Kingdom's door is incredibly low.
So low that we enter only through true confession
From the heart to Jesus as Savior who humbled Himself
Coming down from glory to earth's mess to make a Way.
By humbling Himself on a Cross – Universe's God tortured.
Jesus contrast makes ours seem small – so why wait?
May we take the humble road to Life, risen Christ made.
Joining God's family of forgiven, freed, joyful sinners.
New life's contrast with old will grow as we follow Him.
By a thankful sinner now saint by Jesus' grace
I will bleed folks, I will bleed...
Blood doesn't always have to equate pain...
It could mirror the relief that courses through;
pregnant clouds after the rain...
I will smile folks, I will smile...
I genuinely upturn the corners of my cheeks,
every once in a while...
The rest of the time's a captor of my mind...
I will think folks, I will think...
My thoughts seep through my mind and play across my face...
No need for poker faces...
What I feel is what you see...
I will reach folks, I will reach...
I stretch skyward and pluck a star from the sky...
Ouch', it burns the tip of my fingertips...
It's perchance a mediocre dream:
The epitome of how things seem...
My dream is a bit higher & if stand on my tiptoes and reach,
I can grasp it...and I know it's mine,
by the way I feel on the inside...
Fire lit desire courses through my veins...
the acquiring of this nearly drives me insane,
but I rest assure...it won't be in vain...
We boarded the busy, bustling bus
Adults and children – it transported us
When a crotchety man I knew as a neighbor
Exhibited his usual Scrooge-like behavior
He snorted and snapped “Get out of my way”
“I’ve paid my fare on this miserable day
Oh how I wish I could commit suicide
I hate this nasty and noisome ride”
Now, also traveling to his destination
Was an old man of a very different persuasion
Who sang quite loudly, as teenagers laughed
And didn’t mind if they thought he was daft
Whether carols or pop songs, he cared not one whit
But warbled away – for the sheer joy of it
This curious cacophony caused me to chuckle
And I thought: “This is certainly quite a kerfuffle”
Some passengers stared, and some others scowled
While more of them smiled, there were some who growled
Which shall be your bearing this season
As you search for meaning, as you quest for reason?
For Elaine George's "Tell Me a Story" contest
In slumbering slope they lay,
their gaiety snores in rhythmic peaks of cadences,
The lily livered japes
Kings from central castings,
Heroes of one hour,
jostling for President with mere words
Resigned to bed now, save one.
Cowards, afraid of prison walls
seeking fame by fraud.
Oh Fame, how Disinterested
oh time, how revealing
motives concealed but not to all,
they were boys all along
impressing us by publicity
with drama for the surface
But the sternest stood alone
though jeered and calumniated, yet undeterred
taunted by the guns of the oppressors
marooned in their prison
confined to Abuja
denied of dignity
Yet his passion soars with coruscation of brilliancy
The quest for freedom stems from the heart
the cause for which he dared a tyrant
who sought a cause by a fraudulent jurist
to make him bend or make him bow.
unlike the cowards he never stooped,
he stirred the oppressed from their slumber,
and made some men by delayed revolution.
where are all the orators who came to bury Caesar by campaign?
They snore in the bedroom unaffected by the groaning of the people
some seeking publicity by suing twitter,
others purloining at the tables of business felons.
In the struggle for emancipation,
the boys are separated from the men.
Dedicated to Omoyele Sowore
The Nigerian Born Activist
who stood alone when other younger candidates resigned to fate after the fraudulent election that imposed Buhari
once again I dream
vivid visions that vary
contrasts dark to light
For the contrived inducement of fixated being,
the transmuting tenet of uniqueness,
the personified indented identity,
changes in the self-devised palette
of metamorphosed color mélange,
while the conjured chameleon slyly cocooned,
paints the shifting façade of deception.
In the ostensible enactment of life’s incredible drama,
the performance perfected in one-act play
with the obsession of passion professed,
gilding the consequence crafted by alchemy,
the surreptitious shift from one actor to another,
is an axiomatic drive of the dormant design.
Out of the limelight, the clandestine colors fade
on the tangible visage of virtual makeup,
the pallid original face morphs mystically into
the veracity mirror of fragile actuality,
reflecting the real rendering of identity,
rinsed with the primal hues of persona
of the distinctive disposition embodied once.
The spasm of schematic perception splits the mirror,
the shapeless shards of shattered pretence
scatter as discarded debris willfully abandoned.
Transformation creates the deluding entity,
an alien in its own renovated realm,
completes the illusive paradigm of contrast.
Gloom
melancholic, mournful
lamenting, doubting, hindering
rigidity, shadow, serenity, rainbow
laughing, delighting, heartening
jubilant, joyful
Glee
Look at them Papa,
Sleek:
They appear dignified,
listen to them,
Smart:
With intelligent words and quotes of academic excellence,
very persuasive indeed,
yet too many filipinos are dying in extreme poverty,
naked souls swept by the storm of sheer ignorance.
Never trust politicians whom you love admire most,
whom inspired you as a youth,
your consciousness will be raped by their deceptions,
your pockets without you knowing it will be robbed by their witty tricks,
by their wicked lies,
they are the modern political magicians,
with the spell of scholastic credibilities,
at the end of the day,
under the constitution,
every single cent within the national treasury
will be gone.
It is sad,
very very mind-blowing,
justice can be bought like a chocolate bar,
corruption is everywhere like a rose,
and hunger is forever like a diamond.
I am placed along the line of your existence
seeking for the stray reflection of my shattered heart.
Your laughter consumes my sighs,
like a whirl full of ebullience.
My lament covers the dulcet sound of your breath,
resembling a sharp veil that originates from pain.
Harmony is nourished by conflicts,
silence is preserved by howls.
I extol your alluring frailties,
I surrender to the fragility of your embrace.
I cannot endure the lack of light,
I feel faint when I gaze the projection of your absence.
With a bit of insouciance
I accept the raging storms of your wills,
I shake the grasping hands of your ego.
Our love is a harsh breeze coming off
the unequal sides of the same shape.
Stop measuring the decay of the ineffable sentiments,
observing the torment of the confined expressions.
Cling to the crooked branchlet of uncertainty,
gather the cinders of doubt
and start looking for the concealed truth.
The profound grief finds solace
in the blooming petals of bliss.
Step over the curvature of your imagination
and confront the humble moments we share.
Let’s relish the soft crumpling of life
no matter how evanescent our memory can be.
At the end of the day,
you will reminisce the colloquy of the shadows,
my achingly beautiful anger,
the nebulous ambivalence we experienced.
Never forget that if you want to be the sun,
you have to absolve moon’s indiscretion.
Through Sleep’s Veils
through sleep’s veils
my feet battle blankets
as comets streak the bleak night
————————————————————
(c) sally young eslinger 8/17/2023