Best Crags Poems
Remembering when
Perched high above on rocky crags
Cliffs weathered by times handprints
I saw far and wide to distant shores
Tendrils of desire radiating outwards
Riding the briny mist
Being carried by the breath of the ocean, my constant companion
Hearing the distant voices, the silent tears
The bursts of passion ~ love and loss
I ride the wings of hope and change
Towards the beckoning landscape of
Creation, mystery, and nuance
A vibration fills the air
The quiet chanting of our ancient brothers and sisters
Their words floating in effervescent bubbles
Tinged with melodies so clear
We are one ~ We are here
Let us bathe you in light
Let us heal your wounds
Let us give you hope
We are all mirrors of one another
We share one breath
We are connected like the mycelium under the ground
Our journey is peaceful
Come to us with your pain, your heartache,
Your fear and your loss
We are here to listen
Our ears and hearts are open
You have come to a safe sanctuary to reveal your secrets
Your darkness, your desires, and your bliss
Without judgement
This is a time of renewal
Tiny green hummingbird lays lifeless on the ground
Surrounded by new life
Glittering musical notes sound as
Pink butterflies gather
Gentle wind of wings bringing change
Warm rain falls as we make our way
Through the kaleidoscopes of turquoise, teal, lime and chartreuse
Sunlight reflections
Moss, furry seedlings, and ferns
Intertwine dancing in the shafts of light
A steady illuminated procession
Sweat running down our bodies
We are a train of humanity pushing forward
Through the dense moist jungle
Coming upon a clearing to witness
The newborn baby girl wrapped in velvet greenery
A majestic glowing beacon shining her light
On all of us
Howling
The chatter of monkeys as they scramble down limbs to join us
We feel her heartbeat
We meld into one another seamlessly
Swaying gently in unison
To honor, rejoice and celebrate
Receiving the gift of what it is to be human
Slowly the child is lifted into the air
Aloft on fingertips of joy
The Circle of Life begins
And we return to the simple act
Of loving and giving to one another
Into eternity
Categories:
crags, appreciation, birth, celebration, creation,
Form:
Free verse
I pass the graveyard deep in snow.
One woman at a headstone weeps
all dressed in black like winter crows
as memories in warmth she keeps.
While icicles from boughs hang low
one woman at a headstone weeps.
Still muted angels' trumpets blow
and 'cross the powder darkness creeps
while icicles from boughs hang low.
On granite crags do snowflakes heap
where frost on trees like lichens grow
and 'cross the powder darkness creeps.
As past the iron fence I go
her mortal love in silence sleeps
where frost on trees like lichens grow.
My heart into my throat now leaps.
I pass the graveyard deep in snow;
her mortal love in silence sleeps
all dressed in black like winter crows.
Categories:
crags, death, sad love, winter,
Form:
Terzanelle
The horizon was brewing ominous clouds,
Dark as if they came out of hell.
The once azure sky became hazy
As the north wind chilly breezes
Puffed up more stratocumulus,
Rain-heavy clouds signified storms.
I rested against the balustrade
Of the promenade, looking down at the sea.
Waves upon waves dashed at the dark crags.
Seaspray washed my tired face.
Above the seagulls came to enjoy
The thunderstorm that would soon erupt
Above the small bay, now emptied of boats.
The seagulls were indeed a sight to see.
Only a hundred or so circled the inlet.
They plunged into the sea for food
Irrespective of where the chilly wind blew.
They were an elegant sight to see.
As the first drops of rain fell, I betook myself home.
My wife was waiting anxiously for me
Afraid I’ll get wet. “Watching the birds?”
Clearly, she was not very much amused.
She turned her back on me, as thunder boomed
And lightning flashed but I went with the wind,
And clasped her round her winsome waist.
She did not resist, and neither did I.
Categories:
crags, bird, love, storm,
Form:
Free verse
Fearless Raven, soaring in
the rich, dark chasm—
that world of shadows, echoes,
cliffs and crags chaotic,
the void of subtle stirrings in
a quintessential midnight—
Make some room for me
on your old, straight wings.
I, too, need to sense
lightning piercing stardust,
galvanizing mountains,
stoking distant thunder.
Let me catch a breath
of your pure, primeval air,
exotic and unshackling
latent, raw, unbounded.
Categories:
crags, angst, bird, fantasy, freedom,
Form:
Free verse
Where Hard Rocky Crags Meet White Foamy Sea
Where hard rocky crags meet white foamy sea
rip-roaring splashes, sing softly to me.
Under starlit heavens, big yellow moon
Our fleeting lives vanish far, far too soon!
Where waiting sands absorb bold, mighty waves
further out lay, lost ships and lone sea graves.
Yet sadness can not diminish this view
Or hide the spot where I proposed to you!
I see again, star glow in your bright eyes
and hear that quick yes and your happy cries.
My darling, in this, our sweet tale lays bound
unbreakable vows, true love we both found!
Where hard rocky crags meet white foamy sea
rip-roaring splashes, remind me of thee!
Robert J. Lindley, 3-26-2017
Categories:
crags, art, blessing, dedication, devotion,
Form:
Sonnet
I wear the night upon my wings,
A sound resounding, ever sings,
O back to crags with gatherings -
That home of up-to-down ...
Where happy has a frown.
Into the twilight breath, I come,
Of critters, small, in endless sum,
At hunger's pity, deep, I plumb,
To sate that endless thirst ...
That life will e'er make first.
I dance a dandy with the moon,
A dervish, dark, I swiftly swoon -
One silent song, I care to croon,
That mine, alone, can hear ...
A bounce from ear-to-ear.
O wrap me tightly, midnight sea,
I'm yet one dark-winged prodigy,
To swim your echos fair and free,
And weave them until dawn ...
When you and I ... are gone.
~ 1st Place ~ in the "Strand Completely New (9) Any Theme, Any Form" Poetry Contest, Brian Strand, Judge & Sponsor.
Categories:
crags, animal, appreciation, beauty, nature,
Form:
Rhyme
Mama Africa,
Land of my ancestors' birth;
Source of all mankind,
the once Shangri la of mother earth.
Stir up the spirit of the Mau-Mau in vibrato on the bongo.
Your ways are far higher than the crags of the Kilimanjaro.
Let the cry for freedom rides the winds of the Serengeti,
and the walls of segregation fall like confetti.
With careful utterances,
ransack the minds of the pig-headed souls.
Uhuru milele! Milele bure!
Adamantly, gluttons deprive her black gold.
In the villages, griots will invoke a new story.
Follow the way of the lion,
and watch out for the hyenas.
When the rivers are dry in Tanzania,
danger resides in the mud.
Remember; when liberty is threaten in Somalia,
freedom is written in blood.
Blood stained her crevices with love;
black sons’ and black daughters’ blood.
Categories:
crags, angstfreedom,
Form:
Rhyme
Let not tomorrow come if
I alone must stand.
Vain is love if not
Everlasting.
Let me cuddle this desire,
Anchor me in your soft flesh
Until with liquid sighs I
Gather myself.
Heave me up, if I’m indigestible.
Am I the only one who thirsts for this?
Never again my love; to love this way is evil.
Deep thoughts scale mountain crags to a place of once true love.
Listen, that’s the sound of love stealing laughter.
Oh, how deafening is this silent sound.
Vain is love if not
Eternal.
Categories:
crags, loveme, love, me,
Form:
Acrostic
I'm as free as the wind as I sway in the saddle!
I love life! There's no clutter, nothing to addle!
I give my faithful horse Wild Lightning free rein,
As we meander across God's magnificent terrain!
My pal Spooks trots ahead surveying sagebrush and crags.
I sense that he enjoys life too by the tail he wags!
I crave no roof - the wide-open range is my home.
Territorial bounds don't confine me - freely I roam!
Well-worn saddlebags contain my earthly possessions.
I don't aspire riches nor am I burdened by obsessions.
My soul abounds with wealth as I view His Creation!
Ah! The grandeur of it all! 'Tis ample compensation!
I pause on a knoll viewing the vast panorama and ponder,
The river, a lake, those snow-capped mountains o'er yonder!
In the valley a herd of pronghorn antelope gambol and play.
At dusk The Master Artist paints a majestic sunset display!
Campfire embers slowly die - Wild Lightning grazes nearby.
Spooks lies at my feet - snug in my blanket I gaze at the sky.
I anticipate being awakened by a glorious sunrise next morn,
When Wild Lightning, Spooks and I continue our vagabond bourne!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
Categories:
crags, cowboy-western, happiness,
Form:
Rhyme
Hark, it is the sea that lures me,
It murmurs slowly, it roars out loud.
It brushes lightly on the shingles,
It washes roughly brackish crags,
And as its moods yields to its whims,
It holds me firmly in its spell,
It holds me in its everlasting thrill.
Every blessed day it sings to me
Just like a siren, magical and forlorn,
And calls me back to her enticing grip.
Oft I may wander in some country glen,
Or climb a mountain high,
Still in my mind I hear the call,
Haunting and taunting,
Enticing and beckoning,
Till my lonely soul would yearn
To smell the briny spray of mighty waves,
To sail upon the gentle breakers,
To feel the salty wind ruffle my hair.
Quick, quick, I run towards the shore,
I launch my little boat onto the choppy waves,
My tiller quivers, my sail flutters,
Soon around me I behold
Vast endless expanse of celestial hues,
And smell the mighty fragrance of the blue.
The wondrous breezes gently blow
As smoothly as we glide to islands Greek,
To new adventures and delightful views,
That kindles warmth within my ancient soul.
Shores fade away, mistily, afar,
I am alone at last like a lonely cloud,
Horizons loom or recede so near, so far,
Inviting, luring, restless as my love.
Mesmerized I steer my little boat away,
Ahoy there, let no one stop my way.
For now I am alone and tranquil,
Alone at last with my delightful dream:
The sea that I love so much.
Categories:
crags, boat, sea,
Form:
Free verse
Few are charmed with albatross wings
to glide high above the toothy surf
to soothe the cliffs that yearn to sing
in granite tones of golden destiny.
Some are born with burning stumps,
prone to dream... never to shadow suns.
They cling to icy crags and siren tones,
stumbling on drunken cliffs above bloody shoals.
Others are born void of most everything...
say for pearled hearts and hungry beaks.
Gazing out toward indifferent skies,
awaiting silver miracles that drift on by...on by.
A few are never meant to breathe at all.
Briefly tumbling in the throat of violent squall.
wee flakes on glacial lakes of bluing memory
few are charmed with albatross wings.
Categories:
crags, destiny,
Form:
Rhyme
In the stray lavender of twilight
as cactis' spindled obelisks
brush spreading lapis sky
a honeyed sun
holds tight
to desert crags
for a last glimpse
of fulgid sage
and adobe rainbow dwellings
sprawled in the valley.
I await the candle moon's
flickering smile
shining in gully water
and darts of starlight
glowing in my arid dreams.
Categories:
crags, nature, sunset,
Form:
Ekphrasis
A Gods Eye View of The World
Every form blends and fades
Persistent though
And meaningful
Below from top to bottom slides
Encompassed by
Itself
Describes a purpose
To shift from one to another
And never made less
Than the original
Veins and circulars entwined
Each led to destiny
Between crags and breezes
The formation
Forces of opposition
And tendrils equate
The indefatigable line of being
A mingled sea of light
Transposes through shadow
Arch and rock
Air indivisible
A vibrant salute continues
In a heraldry of birth
Festooned upon the relinquished
A sleeping crown
All appears dancing
A choreography of miniatures
And magnitude beyond thinking
Swift sent of consciousness
Awakened in a tide
Of gesture
And slow somnambulant time
Picks blades or petal
From hair or eye
Thus is its passing
A present unending momentum
Between the washing colour
Of an unseen spectrum
A fluid solidity of dust
On which inscribed imaginations
Pallet of brilliance
Careless even reckless
In its precision of chaos
The full monument of awareness
And spoken singular
Undivided
Unsullied
Stands between feet and sky
Between earth and star
An infinitesimal populace
Of essence and core
Scattered seeds individually planted
To witness
The realms of awe
( Thank you for this poem ).
Categories:
crags, imagination, inspirational, mystery, nature
Form:
Free verse
Il Pleut
It rains torrentially
after long drought and disorder;
it rains drenching the empathetic
scraggy soil of the heart
it rains moistening the rocks of anger
crags of revenge and cracks of depravity
it rains covering the jealous holes with purity
healing the undesirable crevices of the being
it pours incessantly to cover and clean
the gaps of deceptive caves of life
it rains inside me constantly
stretching the cramped limbs
softening the being;
it skits with a susurrus
leading me to the lee
when all on a sudden
something goes wrong
influenced by someone’s lewd smile
or a serein’s half-hearted dampening.
Rain of grace falls and falls
to soothe my ruffled feelings;
it corrects, it helps, it leads me
always to the right way.
When it rains in the forest of my being
where the tallest trees touch the sky
and the moon shines bright on the leaves
through the gnarled branches
lighting the dark parts of existence,
life becomes wholesome
peaceful and serene.
Removing the dryness and darkness of life
rain of grace falls and falls
perpetually to revive.
Categories:
crags, imagery, life, metaphor, rain,
Form:
Prose Poetry
Immortal waves of time,
Clamour on the sea of life,
They crash down on the crags of flesh
And wear them to the grains.
The cells, the salted dust,
The sand beneath the hooves,
The iron feet of giants
Severed down to vanished forms.
Gulls of storm-head black,
Eyes of granite beads,
And beaks derived of bone-yards
House their aspic sodden tongues.
Cries that ram the caves
Vibrating screeching goads the dark,
Receding as the dying light
In seconds after life.
Categories:
crags, death, life,
Form:
Verse