Best Drowned Poems
"From deep within my heart
I always catch the scent
of my Beloved. How can I
help but follow that fragrance?" By Rumi
Drowned in delicate perfume of the gorgeous bouquet,
Glistening moon floating in sea of stars, you I see,
Smell your scent in ambrosial Chrysanthemum
How can I not be astounded with your beauty!
Found you dancing joyfully in a sublime garden,
I knew you were my Princess, like a butterfly
You left the oasis, but the alluring scent stayed,
I became a traveller in the world wandering by.
Walked tirelessly hundreds and thousands miles for you,
Crossing vast dales and tall soaring mountains far,
Your fragrance brought me back to harmony of life ,
How did I not know where my beloved were!
A fuddled mind surfs through tides.
Harboured, she sits by the sea doing nothing.
Her toes make electric touch with the water
Restless currents ... spark the sand.
She could see the ocean break into two parts.
Did the Ocean have a heart?
She had salt in her tears..
She had pepper in her eyes..
The briny breeze..why was it so bitter?...
She knew... she was a Cheater.
He had a heart of ocean.
A treasure of glowing pearls within.
She had pushed him off the coast of Trust.
He was shipwrecked by her deceit.
The tail of the Mermaid was hidden.
He could see only half her face.
Tranquil in innocence and ignorance..
He was blind to the treacherous disgrace.
Etched by the smouldering Tsunami
An island imprisoned her stranded.
The Mermaid drowned and drowned..
in the sea of encumbrance...
she thought...
Is there a second chance?
3rd November 2018
Tell me a story 2 poetry contest
Sponsor Brenda Chiri
PLACED SIXTH IN CONTEST
As you suffocate the light, I'll fight with closed eyes.
As day turns to night, I consume the lies.
There's no guarantee, we will get out alive.
A chance for calamity, will not thrive.
Come get lost, inside my heart.
You know the cost, for now we're apart.
Our shattered dreams, haunt me no more.
Sorrow's tear gleams, as my heart tore.
Darkness consumes me whole, only in dreams of you.
Remember the love you stole, which caused us to be through.
You wanted blood, so I drowned you in red.
I drown in the flood, for you wished me dead.
Sweetheart you're mistaken, if you wish me to forgive.
I know you're only fakin, for you're so abusive.
Screaming through your ears, so I can be heard.
Fighting through my fears, your love so absurd.
Our diminished fire, still burns inside of me.
I hear the voiceless liar, through horrendous filigree.
Am I not your knight, in the shining suit?
Do I kill your fright, for it is hell I salute.
I am starting to wonder, about our memories.
Our love torn asunder, as I beg on my knees.
I'll never get my way, I'll never have you again.
What could I say, for I let sorrow win.
I close my eyes, and escape into a world of dreams.
The love dies, as I was torn at the seams.
Once upon a time, has no happy ending.
Look upon this rhyme, and consider death you're befriending.
I know you're scared, but so am I.
All the sorrow I've bared, let me finally die.
I thought our love, was the real deal.
What's this pain I've dreamnt of, what's this sorrow I feel?
Close your eyes and just leave, maybe you'll get away if I believe.
Written: June 16, 2023
______________________________________________________________
The flames grew dim as the wax poured.
A silent killer, it stealthily soared.
My fire drowned in its accompanying liquid.
As the wax engulfed me, my spirit was rid.
Wobbly thighs are forcing legs to thrive,
Against the tides of doubt, I strive,
Softened walls once held me tight.
But now I break free with all my might.
Hardened, I pressed on through trials and strife.
I was prepared to fight the challenges of life.
But not the same; I emerged anew,
A phoenix rising, with strength imbued.
My stature morphed; I was no longer small.
I stood tall, no longer afraid to fall.
Spreading out with deeper roots,
Nourishing my soul with resilient pursuits
Fabricating a raw wick from crisp-cut hair,
I swallowed wisps, training for another blare.
Filling my insides with my melted torment,
I structured walls with blunt-force blows.
In the depths of darkness, a fiery rage ignited,
A flame untamed, burning bright,
A storm of fury is brewing inside.
Ready to unleash its destructive might.
I crafted a weapon, a wick of hair,
Each strand is a reminder of my despair.
Swallowing wisps of pain, fueling the fire,
Training my soul for vengeance dire.
Every cut, every strand, a sacrifice made,
To forge a weapon, a fury blade,
Igniting the embers of my shattered past,
A tempest unleashed, a fury unsurpassed
Narwhal of antartic deep, trusty
heart my soul to reap, ferry last
my wet cold skin, cross the river
Styx of sin
And if you ask of me now gone,
enquiring where my light has shone,
speak them with salt-sea’s romance,
“He’s gone to prance the Narwhal’s
dance”
She was the vastness of the oceans
I, sailing the seas
Enjoying her swells, her too and fro
She would entice me with blue dreams of lore
I would sail away from the safety of the shore
I was the lonely boat, with nothing but loves delusions
Heading over the horizon
Traveling inside seasick daydreams
On the high seas
I sailed full of hope
Not quite knowing, the ocean
Well she was handing me the rope
My heart tied in sailors knots
Love it seems, was all for not
I lie now, with empty heart
Below
As she the sea has fully consumed
The soul of me
Blackness is now all that I can see
Deception buried in my coffin
Thus setting me free
Moon kisses blown by evening’s silver lips
caress the ocean's pricked up ears. They hear
a mute rage, frothy hackles raised to spear
a passing fleet of ghostly nightbound ships.
Dead dreams float up as daylight slowly slips
into the deep; again we face our fear
that dying might not be the last frontier.
A final move to hell requires many trips.
High above the deck, I spy over the bow,
watching for shoals and reefs that lurk below;
my crow's nest cradle teeters on the bough
the wind will break, though when I do not know.
Then we will plunge into the sea we plow,
lustful and wet. How can we sink so low?
When Death’s pale decaying fingers
Have caressed the face of beauty and lingers
For a moment to gaze on that face so pure
The innocence of the young there’s no demur
Death has no concept of age no mind to dwell
On pity or the consequences of those who fell
They rest now in Heaven’s immortal light
Where Angels shine in vestments bright
Where He who makes all things whole
Sends forth Glory to surround their soul
In memory of all the children of refugees who drowned in the Mediterranean seeking freedom
Speak once,
and softly,
so the river may know...
* * *
"You've come to mourn,
his drowned bones."
[She starts to groan]
He was a
loving father,
a faithful son,
his body swept
and tossed
and now he's gone.
[Leaves fall and vanish in the current]
How now... Mysterious Death,
the speeding current,
time that pushes past,
how do I grab the minutes
so that they last?
"Accept"
[ The river flows and merges with the Earth,
and you look up and see the tops
of trees waving in harmony
with the sky,
and you, spot the sun again ]
The drowned (man), Translation of Etiemble’s poem: Noyé by T Wignesan
( Etiemble who devotes some pages in this only verse volume to translations was a stickler
to the practice of reproducing the original in its form, metre and prosodical structure, a
methodology I find quite useful, on the one hand, and pedantically futile, on the other.
“No man is perfect”, an axiom which could easily apply to both poems and their translations.
In my view, it is not the translator’s duty to improve on the original creation nor is it to
re-create another poem based on the original. Where the ambiguity of sense arises in
vocabulary and syntagms, the translator has to make a choice, albeit even a personal one.
End rhyme scheme of the original: aaaa, bbcc, dede, fgfg. Syllabic count irregular, roughly
around eight, give or take one or two. )
The sea, its games, its lights of jade,
its crazy sheep, cheerless foam
obsolete languages, their countless watering places
standing open-mouthed, all their harbours
nets of steel where sometimes
an insignificant strip of my fingers
signed my passage through these harbours
underwater strewn with cadavers,
all these actions in which I lose myself
and find myself always strong(er)
all these abysses where you hope
to find in vain the last port
and which vomit you via an hiccough
towards shoals and their setbacks,
towards their beaches, their precipices:
non! it’s not for the sea to imbibe.
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2014
DROWNED IN FLOOD
There was an old man from Tanjaver
Afraid to ride a boat on river
Travelling in his car once
Was caught in rain storm by chance
Car drowned in flood, didn’t find driver.
April 11, 2018.
I can close my eyes,
It's weird how still you are the last thought on mind.
I say, 'you and me'
I say, ' still with you'
It's weird how I carry your name forward each and every passing day
Despite all conflicts
Most precious
I was an emotional high;
'Emotional high,' I said
My words not yours
Something you couldn't get off without experiencing
Whatever love
It's already done and done
Your grand scheme of plans,
Did it all work out,
Most precious?
Were you land?
Were you ground?
Were you earth?
Were you stone?
Were you pillar?
Most precious
When you left love,
It felt like the earth had crumpled from underneath my feet
No footing
No ground
No standing
Nothing to grasp much less hold
Love you were cruel
Most precious
I stood there on nothing
Cry, I cried
Weep, I wept
Thought and contemplated
Scared to death,
Love was I going to fall?
After all most precious you were still precious
Probably still are
Probably will still be
Most precious
Love I realised,
You were the ocean,
And underneath you I drowned unaware.
You were gravity,
And under you I became grounded
Without you, most precious
From under I came
Ashore I arrived
Love, I was lighter even.
Drowned in Passionate Depths Of Our Deep Love
So much I wanted to say but could not
speak of moments dancing in pouring rains.
You gave more love than I had ever got
now you gone, it matches depth in great pains!
I know now, your desire in flying free
from your memory I now wish it too.
I, proud ship master, you the storming sea
when enraged together, what fierce winds blew!
In my sinking, your waves played their sad part
I saw storm come but sailed in with my pride.
Your hidden rocks broke me, tore me apart
NOW MY WEEPING SOUL RESTS BELOW HIGH TIDES!
You hold me, embraced in watery grasp
why no longer, are our loving hands clasp?
Robert J. Lindley, 1-15-2017
Sonnet
Drowned in disregard,
He holds her till she wakes.
Do I smell brownies?
Reflection of the moon
In the water pool
So shiny and mysterious
I try to touch it with my hand
But it shies away
And winks at me
In a lustful way
Seductively smiling
In my face from far away
I reach my hand again
And catch the edge
Of the reflection
But it slips away
Like a garden snake
In to the depth
Of shady darkness
And from the bottom
Entangled in the weeds
Stares at me affectionately
With a wide smile
On a pale oval face
I try to reach again
With my fingertips
And the reflection sinks
Into even deeper darkness
I lean over its’
Beautiful shiny face
And lock it with my gaze
I feel water with my skin
My eyes my ears
My heart my hair
Suddenly I realize
I am looking at the moon
Through the depth of
Its’ own reflection