Best Diktat Poems
"If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired." -- Anton Chekhov
Chekhov declared that it's clearly imperative
That a gun given billing must duly be fired.
The bullet obligingly cinches the narrative,
Sating the thirst that the gun first inspired.
Yet the world is awash in objects inutile,
Which clog our disorderly narrative streams.
So why should a playwright adhere to so futile
A diktat pertaining to props in a scene?
Myself for example, habitually arming
The darkness that swaddles me, inkily deep,
My mind so occulted its doubly alarming
To grasp the black Kimber, now sprung from its keep.
The prop having found its way on to the stage,
My untethered demons start chorally keening,
Quite certain they know what the gun must presage:
That this is the moment that holds all the meaning.
Categories:
diktat, depression,
Form:
Verse
Mind, the architect of life’s structure,
obeys what is learnt as the art of living.
Heart, the carrier of nonlinear abstract intellect,
breathes emotive truth in the framework of being.
If the diktat of mind is not pursued,
life is sucked into the whirlpool of chaos,
and not listening to the subtle urge of heart,
life turns into an unfulfilling objectified entity.
Intangible confrontation with either this or that,
designs the dubious dilemma of option,
for lack of equanimity valuing one over the other
causes the onset of neurotic inner conflict.
The foreseeable forks in life’s pathway tests
if judgment and wisdom falter in internal strife.
The rational balance of mind and heart
finds psychic route out of cognitive dissonance.
________________
August 18, 2022
Contest : Inner Conflict
Sponsored by : Unseeking Seeker
Categories:
diktat, conflict, confusion, heart, life,
Form:
Free verse
Though thine two grown
former babes in crib age,
now lead checkered lives,
no longer monopolize my time
as though their persons went backstage
either one embracing, judging,
and negotiating positive
chutes and ladders with courage
evoking glee this papa
helped both beautiful lasses
avoid being risk averse
navigating life with minimal damage
though to get ahead of the class,
(asper the eldest Eden Liat)
credit karma fairly and squarely attributed
to herself with encourage
meant from this papa, who oft time
felt he lacked any clue
akin to a hobbled battleship left
to drift at sea, whence,
upon landfall sub
sequent lee forced to forage
in a foreign dominion (akin to being
among Settlers of Catan),
plus devoid of instruments to gauge,
an optimal strategic operation,
thus figuratively groping in the dark
(unaware of a brewing twister)
guided by blind faith
doth admit saying sorry,
but apologetic homage
would disqualify thyself,
a "FAKE" mastermind
undeserving of just desserts,
unfairly via diktat plucking sweet treats
awash within Candy Land,
a deceptive image
entrancing, luring and, spellbinding
ultimately incurring trouble,
particularly when Shana Aubrey
(younger by about
twenty six months)
garnered lion's share of parental attention
necessitated mandatory intervention
due to language
skills, plus pronounced
developmental delay,
where supreme social service
sages gentle massage
wrought divine prestidigitation
as one after another
case worker did overencourage
to counteract congenital
cognitive setback (coalesced in utero),
now finds das dada envious
(cuz, aye got mired, hogtied,
and bogged down with
obsessive compulsive trivial pursuit,
hence warrant so lucky as thee Punim)
steers ship shape body electric
round her uncharted cerebral
cape of good hope passage.
Categories:
diktat, 10th grade, 11th grade,
Form:
Elegy
An Unlively Very Stiff (upper Lip) Masquerade
(any resemblance between averred one laid
to rest and yours truly...purely coincidental
regarding unnamed person liberated
into heavenly glade!)
though innocently youthful looking air
at three score year,
or so the trumpeting "FAKE" mirrored reflection
(animated, sans Alexa) programmed tube lear
and spout, one most familiar Shakespeare
refrain (frequently misinterpreted) wherefore
art thou Romeo, really translates as
“Why did you have to be a Montague?”
no matter living to max,
I did not accrue
hoping to lyft mine uber last dying wish,
no matter body besotted, kissed,
and riddled with ague
spirit fights futile demise submerging
into bone a fied underworld brew,
any bargain exhausted with grim reaper
past hour to argue
lifelessness accorded ritual
traversing along deathly
other mortals traversed, paved,
and hallowed avenue
sudden agedness tolled
danse macabre league
with trumpeting battue
rigor mortis in toto
human flesh turned blue
oddly starved of wrinkles
thee only cherished clue
that perhaps...key expiration
coroner did misconstrue
bah...false alarm let somber retinue
solemnly proceed so poet can continue
pointless against corpse
dead letter diktat to counterargue,
nor against cosmic creator
can one countersue,
or expect miraculous success cue
wing sudden resurrection,
when biological processes
particularly brought to halt by dengue
fever, and rendering void
erroneous, unlikely mistaken
death sentence, hence sigh continue
and marvel quiet eternal repose
avails most pronounced distingue
lying in state (within coffin)
pulling out all stops
guaranteeing her/his endue
perhaps casket sealed with
decedent's favorite chiffon fondue
unsure what grim missing fate will ensue,
asper the (soul) surviving,
perhaps reincarnated within
commencement of fescue
as verdant leaves of
wit man ask grass
or if cremated...surely
spiritual embodiment freed thru flue
but no matter,
(je ne sais quois) glue
thee only I French I knew
before bidding dearly departed
may dog bless ye - adieu!
Categories:
diktat, absence, blue, creation, death
Form:
Epic
Hoary Decree, dateless Order,
Anthroposophy of the cradle,
Bewilderment of upper echelon,
Agemo - the goddess of forms.
You are the word, you utter not any;
You are the history, you tell no tale;
Cogent than ingredients and concoction,
Fiat is your potent and reverend name.
When the Earth was total gel
And the World was all indigo;
You drained water into the depth
And made the Earth bear its face.
Diktat of the premier flame:
“Let there be light”, how eloquent!!!.
When the godlings begged for cool;
Scorching was the amber they groaned,
With your fiat, you drowsed the flame,
And made moon comfort the godlets.
The day stiffeners berated the Bulkhead,
Sued Mystery for the contest of forms,
Yellow they were like a chip of sulphur;
You were yoke like the full moon in the sky.
When they were blue, black and brown;
Your apparel appeared beguilingly -
More blue, more black, more brown.
In poppycockish sobriety they roared:
All hail the absolute goddess of forms,
Never shall we grimace at Chameleon
And applaud the farce of any Caricature.
They dare you not, I say the dare you not;
When we know the fierceness of Shango,
Do will still rebuke the King of Koso?
Who shall pick his nostril with cobra’s fang?
Who shall bestride your path Agemo?
Categories:
diktat, africa, god,
Form:
Verse
Lamenting Life Lost Before...
Last Rays Of Flickr Ring Candlelight
Approximately a dozen
orbitz around the Earth
(since mcmlix), the year
of my birth, an aversion
(stayin alive) constricted self worth
gripped (strong as strangling
choke hold), where
even to this day
(January 25th, 2019)
lx anniversaries marking birth
emotions of ambivalence directed at me,
and family of origin still career,
within psyche of Matthew Scott Harris -
less plain as day when prominent dearth
of attentiveness, compassion, empathy,
et cetera totally absent
without leave, and dear
father, (who art not thou in heaven yet)
nsync with mother (long deceased)
vividly evinced sole son lack of mirth
(matter of fact gamut
of all feelings except despair)
vociferously ejaculated, viz non verbal
communication as if...spark of life
extinguished within mine shuttered hearth
lacking necessity to eat plus,
attend to personal care
spelled disaster (even impossible
for FEMA to aright)
psychological illness offshoots infected,
this entire body, asper blight
dulling that preschool boy with
his demeanor cheerily bright,
a pallor of gloominess enshrouded this lad
blocking, crushing, destroying... daylight
additionally quashing will power to fight
off thee mailer daemon, a deadly parasite
lodged evil doppelganger fought
tooth and nail being ostracized
throve to truncate more'n foresight,
considerably less self actualized versus
present pained realization, plus violent bent
evidenced by self starved
inflicted suicide, not gunfight
since parents opposed firearms,
anyway no matter, cuz height
of determination to perish (albeit
passive) exhibited pathetic might
effortlessly overwhelmed, since
corporeal defeated essence i.e. emaciated flesh light
as a feather defeated thru thine dada
decreed diktat, and
maternal instinctual millwright
both sets of chromosomes helping beget,
asper this scribe learning
late less a frayed
gripping ropes to play right.
Categories:
diktat, absence, age, cry, grief,
Form:
Bio
in my head there is nothing
except few cloud-lets
white
they have no power of thundering
no water to pour
on the thirsty minds
of the gathering
confused i stood
on the stage
to avoid this awkwardness
i give a wide smile
and said
if i know anything
except poetry that is
i can defend well my religion
and my country
this i am doing since my child hood
but alas! they say
i do not belong to them
i am too liberal
my understanding does not match with
''their religion''
more they say:you do not follow
''our religion ''
the land where i am born
belongs to the people
of and from the majority community
my fellow citizens
say
though my fore fathers came to this land
like theirs
six and half century ago
if i go against the mainstream
protest against their diktat
and point out their mistakes of past and present
hold alternative views
of peace and development
i am warned
i will be labelled anti - national
will be marked illegal immigrant
forcefully they will push me where no man lives
now
i am a man
without mother land
with out name and identity
for whom till date i steal
they call me a thief
turn my blood into water
they are driving me out
the man who has no one
he has the sky
now
i do not run my roots
into the soil
instead spread them upwards
and take shelter
in a cave of a cloud
by the name of ocean
now i am the citizen
of the world
Categories:
diktat, angel,
Form:
Free verse
Charge d'affaires struck by lightning bolt
While high falutin dip low matt
flying his kite insurgents
planned coup d'etat
clear out of blue, a devilish
forked, jagged, knifed
dagger "O" type electric current licked
more'n the pants off harried envoy
clear rants heard
all the way to Timbuktu
damn donnybrook loosing mayhem
special averred ambassador
last best hope
thwarting total mortal Kombat
Zeus bribed - putin two and two...
together spelled collusion
arch enemies of democracy de facto
2020 election in cahoots,
whereby sore loser trumped,
activated thinly veiled plot
made good diabolical promise
demanding winning or else
"ye ain't seen nuttin"
imposing himself victor
nee, declaring tyrannical
prince sup pulled "purple" reign,
despite just shy winning majority
crowed as "FAKE" optical illusion
claimed apparatchik infiltrated
voting booths rigged
machination stole courtesy
bounty on mutiny playbook page,
the average joe buyed
entire hook, sink, and liner
titanic ruse to unseat
all time self crowned best president,
apprentice skills garnered
thru "art of the deal,"
albeit machiavellian
who refused to admit defeat
usurped, proclaimed, kindled... diktat upon
those opposed driving fiat
vis a vis disallowing, discharging,
disenabling, disguising, distilling
carving up United States
in league courtesy
best buddies Kim Jong Un
populace will pay price
bear every burden
every hardship el don jon doth
punishingly mete out
recruiting military modern
death cab for cutie squads
dirty deeds done dirt cheap
personal vendetta and vengeance
as just desserts
succeeding presidential term
to abdicate pronto
lest civilization bombed
back into stone age
no matter enfranchisement
law within lady liberty land,
nonetheless he decreed
global hegemony forever
pressed hot button
omnipresent nightmare manifest destiny
global destruction unleashed
threatened to obliterate
every last trace of mankind!
Categories:
diktat, 10th grade, 11th grade,
Form:
Political Verse
subsequently splashed by
LXXII spittle aged
perspiring ogre) with exuberance
(like some voodoo freelance
sing hexed indigo gurl goo goo doll,
a villainous venal mummified
rattle trap declaring forbiddance
from this moment forward grievance
fomented by via triple threat
to American democracy
sans, intransigence, insouciance, ignorance,
thus taking recourse upon the heads
of "stupid" journalists forcing hand
toward "losers" who spread lies,
hence president signs issuance
analogous to lance
sing (via strong trumpeting arm),
a yuge bigly boil saying believe me
(meaning him - moron in chief)
asseverating the congressional,
global, and orbital
bulwark acting with noncompliance
necessitating entire military
industrial complex arsenal
heavily reinforced (at
the expense of every social,
governmental, environmental, etc cetera
to manage unruly populace
with mandatory diktat decreeing obeisance
with non dodging demagoguery
huff ford ding auto-da-fé fiat ordinance
this platform to guarantee overdominance,
when November 2020 election
for forty sixth president
takes place with poignance!
Categories:
diktat, 11th grade, 12th grade,
Form:
Free verse
“The devout soul always finds a divine course
in the labyrinthine maze of life” – Quote by Poet
I walk the gorgeous garden path alone
with the cadence of love in the young heart,
nurturing hopes of its permanence sown
for me, the impermanent world sets apart.
Times change, but I could not know how,
storm of strife surges, but I could not know why
it blows away the mind, a discarded leaf from bough,
falls like a drop of my tear with a sigh.
The blankness drags the dead dreams down
to the fragile life’s labyrinthine abyss,
and onto the brink of self-destruction to drown
in the dregs of disappearing hope amiss.
In the quicksand of expectation hollow inside,
remorseless dangers of desolation lurk,
as the demolished desires subtly subside,
failure makes the life’s tortuous pathway dark.
The shuddering unsure footstep falters,
the sliding sands of sanguine time don’t stop.
The diktat of the ordained destiny never alters,
as listless life lumbers in the dark path losing the prop.
Searching then within I find the inner divine light,
that reveals the reality of life’s intent in the haze,
defines for me the purpose of existence right.
I continue my winding journey through labyrinthine maze.
Categories:
diktat, analogy, journey, life,
Form:
Rhyme
Pleaded she, topless when in street caught:
Equal rights with menfolk I’ve or not?
I’ve just done what they do,
Not more, nary less new,
If men do, so do women feel hot.
Oh really, wondered policing man,
Thoughts in mind bursting wild, hard to pen,
Discreet, he kept quiet,
So does this shunned poet,
Thinking of Poetry Soup’s fermaan.
_________________________________
Happenings |23.08.2023| Limerick, humour
Poet’s note: In a picturesque French town, a woman faced prosecution for walking through streets topless. In sympathy other women joined her in support. ‘If men can why not we? We too feel hot in this weather.’ They paraded topless with ‘what difference’ scrawled with a marker pen on their skin. This limerick imagines how she would protest when caught topless. Oh really, how the policeman might wonder. This reminds me of my school days. Some girls in our group argued on similar lines (no, not topless). In response boys challenged them to duplicate what all they could do and silenced them. But times are changing now. Fermaan=diktat.
Categories:
diktat, humor, men, women,
Form:
Limerick
WHO AM I?
The question, the fundamental question
Needs to be addressed and answer known
By one and all to be at peace with oneself
To be freed from the diktat of the opposites.
Ages past mankind has strived to solve
This mighty mysterious puzzle of life
Few have delved deep in it, immersed
Fewer still have unraveled the enigma.
It has to be tackled as no one can get away
Sooner the better to be out of the vile route
But the path is arduous, so says the guide
Traverse one has to all by himself to lead.
What is my identity; what is the aspiration
Where from I come and what for am I here
Where shall I go henceforth, wrap the riddle
This makes it in fact unfathomable indeed.
When I am in waking state I relate myself
With the world outside and when dreaming
With the sub conscious and in deep sleep
I revel in void of bliss, packed in ignorance.
The wise who see it, say it as a great wonder
The others praise it as a magnificent marvel
Yet others who hear about it as a royal secret
Alas! But none understand it as their being.
Categories:
diktat, discrimination, freedom, introspection, spiritual,
Form:
Light Verse
Beyond the thoughts,
nothing I mourned,
nameless death was writing its diktat.
The dirty epithets were accepted for collage.
Simply a prayer was needed
for a childless truth.
Rudimentary terms owned
a beautiful diction.
The ultimate pain makes you dumb.
Words lose the vision, you walk in a hollow city.
Now is the time to remember the movement of truth
in a jungle of drums.
Eyes must find out the old path.
Huge crowds collect at the door.
Human connections are at strain.
The questions are never answered flawlessly.
Life should not burn like coal,
but be a tree,
in praise of sky,
wind and earth.
SATISH VERMA
Categories:
diktat, faith, father, food, children,
Form:
ABC
Be like a beacon in the ocean
Or bloom in the wilderness
With fragrance soothing all,
Flowing like river, quenching all
Stray clouds soaking the parched
The leaves at the feet of tree
Becoming food for their genitor
Birds singing from their hearts
Adding melody and accord for all
Spontaneity unfolding with ease
All is part of nature’s bounty
Be for others is the nature’s diktat
Holism and complimentarity
Is the secret of nature’s endurance
Togetherness is the law
Singing through countless chords
Nature’s symphony is an eternal bliss
Ringing beyond time and space
You are a note of the perpetual song
You are thus forever.
The self manifests the whole
Nothing exists for itself alone
As a part of cosmic consciousness
Nothing is less, nothing is more
All is One
Categories:
diktat, inspirational,
Form:
Free verse
On the dusky roads
Full of calm and autumn charm
I walk with brisk steps
But not in haste
With enchantment and ease
In a melodious mood
In harmony with nature
Conscious of the purpose
Dearer to my soul
With discipline and diktat
Of body and mind
In the company of Maghrib prayers
And the returning barrows
Talking with the trees
In silence and whisper
I have been walking since long
On the lonely paths
Far from commotion, merging with myself
Lost in the lap of solitude
I move with the virgin nature
And walk with the slippery moon
Full of quietude
I move with twilight breeze
The blue sky loosing shine
Awaiting the twinkling guests
The singing birds return to nest
The warning bells of cold breeze
Remind me to return
Glued to my schedule
I continue to walk
In succour and solace
Few more steps and I am done
With freshness, endurance and peace
And a promise of cozy sleep
I return rejuvenated
Categories:
diktat, happiness,
Form:
Free verse