Best Didactic Poems
There is no difference,
the saints whisper and every enemy and ally
wake to forever’s difference,
that neither knee nor tongue will deny.
Doubt bit into Innocence and sold
the first coffins wrapped in pride.
Creation became a seed – a box filled twofold,
when under silt, Eden died.
Secular tides engulf their last season
to bury God and Baal,
synthetic rainbows enlighten treason
fulfills the fool’s tale.
Escape suffering to bend
love to an abstract sum.
Detached absurdity when
a false bliss is done.
Not enough of Earth’s blood
to sustain paved veins,
a technological flood
of isotopes and labor pains.
Fiat economies root for
the drug and gun,
made the bomb’s core
hotter than the sun.
infusions of contraband’s revenue
numbs the inconvenience of sin.
A dream’s fence became headstones ensue,
declared wars we can’t afford to win.
Seeded skies less blue to breathe,
the incense of death and device,
ivory towers babel and seethe,
lies spoil the last grains of paradise.
One rich man though licked by the flame,
still sees Lazarus as a servant and to those
who tear Christ off the Cross to make him the same,
Judas still hangs in the shadows.
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Written 10.28.16
Contest: Saints and Sinners
Sponsor: Silent One
Listen, my fellow dreamers,
But listen with your heart,
And hear the silent music of which we're all a part.
Cover your ears, my dreamers,
Lest the worldly tunes drown out
The inner magic symphonies of what life's all about.
Listen, listen, listen,
And hear the song of Love;
It's echoing within you, outside, beneath, above.
It's playing in the meadow
And in the city street;
Resounding in your friendships and the stranger that you meet.
Listen, listen, listen,
To the symphony of Hope;
Its crescendo's growing louder to help you grasp and cope.
It's drowning out the concert
Of trouble and of strife;
Just close your ears and listen to this melody of life.
Listen, listen, listen,
To Faith's unending song;
There's magic in its music to make and keep you strong.
Feel the mighty power,
It's flowing through your soul.
Its tune will conquer mountains and fulfill your every goal.
Listen, listen, listen,
But listen with your heart,
And hear the silent music, of which we're all a part.
Sandra M. Haight
~3rd Place~
Premiere Contest: 2019 Marathon Mile 12
Sponsor: Mark Toney
Judged: 01/26/2019
Listen With Your Heart
~1st Place~
Contest: Life ~ Premiere Contest
Sponsor: Janis Thompson
Judged: 05/15/2016
~1st Place~
Contest: Simply Beautiful
Sponsor: Kelly Deschler
Judged: 04/05/2015
Embrace the miracle of Today's birth;
the beginning of everything.
Incapable of re-living
or pre-living its ownership,
our character bares definition
by the gratitude displayed
for every moment in its presence.
It is renewal,
joyful in its divinity.
May we be strong enough to engage it,
generous enough to share it
and wise enough not to waste its invitations...
Poem Of The Day 06/06/2018
Dear Children,
I can only give you a deep love that lasts
The span of my lifetime, nothing less.
On a quotidian basis, you will feel
The warmth of my embrace.
You will inevitably make mistakes,
And it's okay to make them.
You learn and grow from them.
They make you a better human being.
Never be wounded by constructive criticism;
Welcome it, give it to others when warranted..
They also help people learn and grow.
Don't be defined by your shortcomings,
You're human because of them.
Trouble me with your troubles, anytime.
Yes, my dear children, you can talk to me
About anything, and I mean anything!
I promise always to be emotionally available,
To tell you uncomfortable truths about life,
To be of comfort to you when you feel pain,
To dry every tear I see you cry,
To help push you to the summit
Of the highest mountain,
To help you reach the pinnacle
Of any dream you may dream,
To do my best in explaining the confusing,
To protect you from harm of any kind.
Never be less than who you truly are.
Shine your light in this word, my dear child.
Always strive to do your level best.
Always trust your instincts,
And faithfully follow it; never question it!
Always treat people with respect and dignity.
Waste no time with toxic people
That want to bring you down.
Waste no time dwelling on conditions
beyond your control; God is always at the helm.
Practice patience, it's really a virtue.
Believe in God and say your prayers, always.
It costs absolutely nothing to be
A good person. It gets you far in life.
Shush...Did You Hear That?
Listen to
The raindrops falling
Let us cry…
Wash away
Life’s bitter, stinging pain and
Take away its stain.
Listen to
The ocean splashing
Let us laugh…
Lift our hearts
With cool, refreshing waves and
Penetrate dark caves.
Listen to
the thunder clapping
Let us shout…
Wake the world
To all that makes it wrong and
Righteousness prolong.
Listen to
The songbird chirping
Let us sing…
Fill our souls
With hope to carry on and
Yesterday, be gone.
Listen to
The wind song howling
Let us rush…
Race the clock
To live life while we can and
Fly within its span.
But, hear now…
The silence screaming
Let us pause…
Long reflect
On that which we must do and
To ourselves be true.
November 24, 2015
Christian Love frame
The only need for death to every exist
Was to slay the fictional self
And all the embellishments used to support it
Fear not, Love’s little flock
You will not be set to fly
And then be allowed to fall
To be strong in your Love
Is to inherit the power of God
That now lies dormant in your essence
For your possession of absolute truth
Is a point at which your Love and your reality
Both become one in God
Slaying your fictional self, being honorable
Is your first step toward your recovery
Of your conscious immortality
For what is sin but the force and mischief
Used to instill and empower
Your mentally invented lower realities
Withholding forgiveness
Is the ego’s assault against life
Love does not judge
For what is the mercy of Love
But that it repeats it’s lessons of life
Until they are learn by the mind
For Love already knows,
What life is yet to learn
Therefore learn from who you are
And teach your outer self
Love’s absolute truth
Love is your true reality, a constant source
Has no beginning or no end
The unlimited potential, quite essential
My prayer for 2010 is that;
These proceeding sayings
Become obsolete this year
In the face of your Love itself, Smile!
Stay in your Bibles, my little bibles
For Love is your title
Not your mind of idol!!
1-2-10 johnmosesfreeman@yahoo.com
In the mirrors of Moirai
kismet and karma kiss adoringly,
unaware of this betrayal they label as life.
In the hallucination we call birth,
words whisper like bitter winds,
composing a metaphorical manuscript,
weaving a quilt of invisible inflictions.
Silent screams serenade in childhood bloodshed,
where no messiah arrived to rectify sins of saints -
so some languish among abandoned souls.
Modern monsters no longer hide beneath the bed,
they feast amongst our freshly prepared banquets.
In a fathomless pit, I'm slaying prosaic demons,
before indigo hues turn ebony -
who are they to destroy my dreams?
I never heard the birds sing
in a playground of lucid lullabies.
I still recall the ghosts of featherless angels,
swaying upon swings adorned in garlands of grief.
Their eternal spirits flickering in silver embers,
evolving into perpetual vessels of reflection.
Confused in a realm of revolving doors,
tarnished paths only withhold wrath,
leaving behind trails of trauma,
where twisted trials lead to disfigured destinies.
Glass hearts only break in battles with burdens,
so our spirits become victim to Medusa eyes.
When each sigh flows like a slow poison,
we search for virgin daffodil dawns,
as distractions to numb the pain.
Fatigued from the battles from
those who rebel against our hearts -
we seek solace from sojourners of invigoration.
Blessed are those who connect with universal harp strings.
Who merge with the sacred aura of music.
Who notice the stars before twilight,
comprehending the glory of sunrise,
as an analogy against adversity.
I was not designed to be a flower,
contained in a snow globe,
covered in ivory flakes when shaken.
I have forgiven the blameworthy,
who are guilty for chaining an inner child,
but I'm still waiting to break free.
Before I waste away and my thorns decay,
ordain upon me the fortune to cradle love -
let me flourish in the field where Rumi's roses bloom.
Line of inquiry:
"discarding narrow thought flow crutch
we learn directly by soft touch
and what we garner we relay
to the vast void in childlike play
entwined thus with the universe
we dance without need to rehearse"
In an erratic existence
this ad hoc state of mind,
treads upon random paths,
to reach the doorsteps of my fate.
Those who find structure in scriptures,
let them be guided towards their remedy.
I hope they find what they seek,
but my spirit keeps spinning
like a whimsical roulette,
relying upon the universe
to weave rhythms of cosmic threads,
nourishing my soul in ethereal elixir.
I have read so many scripts of stone,
but my quill writes in impulsive ink,
rebelling against confined expression,
composing an unrehearsed sinfonia,
in an attempt to create and connect.
Unlike the moon,
we appear and disappear
like impromptu stars.
Burning into life, but blameless,
full of innocence, purifying eyes,
briefly guiding those who choose to gaze.
There is an art to being human.
Interpretation is an abstract perception.
Our hearts portray kaleidoscopic emotions,
so in my palette of unscripted intuition,
I shed the chains of conscience doubt.
In the essence of every brushstroke,
I breathe life to improvised affections.
H o n e s t y,
because without it,
a child turns a blind eye to the truth.
H o n o r,
because without it,
a child compromises his principles.
F a i r n e s s,
because without it,
a child has no concept of justice.
T o l e r a n c e,
because without it,
a child grows narrow of mind.
P a t i e n c e,
because without it,
a child loses grip on self-control.
R e s p e c t,
because without it,
a child rebels against authority.
D i s c i p l i n e,
because without it,
a child struggles to persevere.
S e l f - r e l i a n c e,
because without it,
a child becomes slave to dependency.
H u m i l i t y,
because without it,
a child cultivates arrogance.
C h a r i t y
because without it,
a child falls prey to selfishness.
C o n f i d e n c e,
because without it,
a child turns inward.
L o v e,
because without it,
a child cannot practice acceptance.
We must be vigilant to
the shards of radiance and splendor
that flash
before our squinting cynic eyes.
Ask not how did he die
But how did he live,
Not how did he fall
But how did he rise;
Ask not what did he gain
But what did he give,
Not how many
records did he break
But how many
hearts did he mend;
Ask not what was his church
Nor what was his creed,
But did he help the one in need,
Did he care to wipe a tear
And offer a word of cheer,
Did he bring back the smile
And rekindle the spirit meanwhile;
Did he walk
on the path of God
And did not falter
to call His name aloud;
The true measure of a man:
What he is,
Not what he has,
Nor what did his eulogy say,
But how many felt sad
when he passed away?
~Didactic poem contest by Regina Riddle
~11/28/2014
The Simple Pen
I am but a simple man with pen in hand
To cut open a slice of universe with verse
And with the ink
Let it bleed not red
It flows instead with mortal colors
Over a life well spent
What is left over
We drink this in a cup
Pour more to fill it up
But little at a time
Too much reality can cloud your mind
Said the simple man with bleeding pen
Entered in Tyshawn Knight's - "Advice for New Writers: Words of Wisdom in Verse" Poetry Contest on 6/02/15
Truth burns at the center of all occurrance,
it is a heat that motivates appettites to enlarge,
truth is a multiplier of quests,
satisfaction always arrives at the porch of a new path,
truth does not reveal endings, only beginings that behave
like currents pushing towards a shore,
truth demands stamina from the finder as well from the seeker,
it dashes in delight from the tired,
indolence receives no invitation from truth because laziness is a debtor,
a fish with no gills,
credit walks not from the bank steps of truth,
one must exchange, transact with it, as wanting is to worth,
Truth holds strength in one hand and suffering in the other,
He gives quarter and meal to surviving artificers who are organizing
their talents for future enterprise,
to the brigand and beggar He puts on a pewter plate
bland beans representing distance,
disillusionment preceeds the knowledge of utility because
new truth means fallacy is an ancestor,
an anthropologist is truth, observing your traits,
orbiting the ability of your judgement,
some of Truth's revelations are more expensive than others,
sometimes He will take your Past and grin like a haughty antique dealer,
truth will invest in your Future as a gambler revisits old glory
speaking fresh fortunes in cold ears,
He is an opportunist incessantly offering information for spirit,
without the ignorant truth becomes a vagabond in a vineyard of sweet rust,
the secret of truth is that it is ours
if we wish to be honest with ourselves,
truth is the inheritence of the strong who know how to make it,
oppossed to those waiting for it -
J.A.B.
Be Courageous Above All in everything
You do and become involved in since the
Inverse of doing this is often anathema
To leaning forward and getting things
Done and becoming a viable and vibrant
Force in your own life which is so important
Since we all have just this one chance
Within our mortal coil known as “life”
To make things happen and to make a
Difference and so the message should be
Why wait because the positive impact
You have on yourself can have that
Wonderful alchemic by-product on
Others you know and interact with
In our finite cosmos of the Human
Endeavor and so standup for your
Beliefs and ideas but always be
Polite and gracious to others since
These attributes go a very long way
In helping one to get things done and
In achieving goals both big and small
And so—Be Courageous Above All
Since you only live once with your
Current Soul Body on this most finite
Mortal Earth Plane! (And don’t forget
To laugh at yourself from time to time!)
Gary Bateman, Copyright © All Rights Reserved
(December 12, 2014) (Didactic Verse poetic format)
To release me from hellish nights
let's talk now, Fear...
I leave, yet your shadow follows me;
a darkened grime blowing on my mind
like an uninvited guest from a demonic realm.
The macabre of nights holds no clues
but reflects my image through you:
Realizing this now I oppose
those vicious whispers,
and embed them in the dirge of sand:
When confronted with inner warfare
O Fear, you turn from rage to cowardice;
I walk away, never to come back...
that phantom of rain tumbles as mist shines.
Feeling empowered now, your hunts lose
as my soul claims its final deliverance--
I’m no longer a pawn.
Fear Contest for Debbie Guzzi
Re-submitted 8/30/2017