Best Embarked Poems
Friends come and go, but some have passed me by
as swiftly as the sun that lights my days.
They wave goodbye; I give a little sigh.
It seems I barely had them in my gaze.
Sweet friends I knew from youth. Where have you gone?
My bonds with some of you I felt were strong.
But journeys that we each embarked upon
divided us, and now I write this song.
Its lyrics tell the longings of my heart -
to see and be again with each dear friend
who knew me when and shared a special part
which cannot be retrieved nor has an end,
for memories are shadows cast by sun
which haunt me even when my days are done.
4/5/2012
For Mark Toney's the '2022 Poetry Marathon Mile 11' Poetry Contest
Categories:
embarked, holiday, me,
Form:
Sonnet
POTD 23 Mar 2024
THE PATH WELL TRAVELLED.
Two paths diverged, and I was thrown by doubts I had never known
To my left, thickly overgrown, was a path to dismal dimness prone.
To my right, a lovely sight-fragrant flora flamed in light
Forms so graceful, beauty rare, a wonderous vision beyond compare.
Both seduced with equal right, torn was I between dark and light.
Resisting limits of time and sight, a liminal border of cosmic might.
Hesitancy rapt with fear and doubt, the pondering heart beat aloud.
Tempting was the path so grand, but instinct cautioned of a treacherous hand.
A feathery touch, a breeze stirred, and in its sigh, a voice I heard.
Was it Hecate who whispered?
"Take heed. Beware, for each path leads to a different lair."
Crystal clarity knew what I must do, and with a heart filled with valour true,
Joyously, I strode wild and free down the well-trodden path ahead of me.
The leaves, like frisking lovers, played as I embarked my chosen way.
Future paths ~ So many dreams ~ Each a thread in life's grand scheme.
Though true discovery lay in paths, I'd roam ~
The one well travelled always led back Home.
By Maria Williams ©
Greeks worshipped Hecate as a guardian and gatekeeper who could ward off evil forces. She is often represented carrying a torch and a key and standing on the liminal border between one place and another. She bears three heads and always has a dog by her side.
Inspired by Robert Frost's 'The Road Not Taken', I chose to write an alternative version.
'The Road Not Taken' is one of Robert Frost's most famous poems. It's natural and understandable that many readers take the poem to be Frost's statement of individualism as a poet: he will take 'the road less travelled'.
The metaphor of the road is one that immediately evokes a journey, not just of the local or day-to-day kind, but of the life-defining sort: life as a journey, with many roads which we must travel along, and with many alternative paths which we must choose between.
POTD 23 March 2024
Categories:
embarked, inspirational, journey, life, metaphor,
Form:
Rhyme
This Medusa had no power to turn us into stone
but when she ran aground over Poseidon's throne
his anger stirred, and into the sea the crew was flung.
On a raft urgently built of salvaged timbers we clung.
A hundred and more escaped before the frigate sunk
and after four days adrift, our number had shrunk.
With naught but salted sea to sate our massive thirst
I vowed not to give in. I swore I'd not be the first
to yield to temptation and drink myself to death
though feverish from the intensity of the sun's breath.
On the eighth day, hunger turned men into savages,
feasting on flesh in a moment of rapacious ravages.
Bloated bodies bobbled like apples off Africa's coast.
I contemplated my fate to become what I dreaded most-
being tossed off the raft, into a shark's clamping jaws.
To survive, no one had agreed to abide by man's laws.
I'll not forget the look of fear in the eyes of others,
sailors who once proudly called themselves 'brothers.'
Each of us clutched and clawed for an inch of the raft.
The feeble ones cackled as though they'd gone daft.
Arms and legs entangled among the living and dead,
as an alabaster corpse pillowed a sun-blistered head.
The demented swam away, flailing arms in roiling waves
until they perished in the depths of their turbid graves.
Alas the day, two weeks in, a ship sighted on the horizon.
Fifteen survivors with charred skin, lean and wizened
rescued from death's grip in a morbid human experience.
Men who'd given up on hoping for a timely deliverance,
their bodies emaciated, and their clothing, threadbare,
destined to relive the catastrophe in gruesome nightmare.
August 4th 2022
2022 Marathon mile 11 Contest
Sponsor: Mark Toney
NOTE: In June 1816, the French frigate Medusa, ran aground off the coast of Senegal. Because of a shortage of lifeboats, some 150 survivors embarked on a raft and were decimated by starvation during a 13-day ordeal, which descended into murder and cannibalism. Only a handful remained when they were rescued at sea.
Categories:
embarked, death, sea,
Form:
Narrative
Two owls charmed me
moments before I embarked
on the hours of industry to come.
Their silhouettes were dark and secretive,
their voices wistful and low.
I had a moment only to be soothed
with no thought to the truer meaning,
sinister and cruel,
of their flight from industry to come.
Mere yards from where I sleep
the tree has grown large
much like its older cousin
mere yards from where I brood.
The loeries return
to a place that may once have been theirs,
and they speak with voices
almost as those of children.
They charm me as the owls.
In the small fertile garden
among acres of mortar and stone
and grass largely ignored,
I may see with fortune
the frog that enchants me,
the spider that does not much haunt me,
the serpent that surely does.
The Indian myna, relentless, imperious,
will not be denied.
The idiosyncrasies, kind and mean,
gave them form and breath and motion,
and domain, before our domain.
26th July 2018
Categories:
embarked, environment,
Form:
Free verse
I've deleted this acrostic from the competition for personal reasons.
SORRY, J. D.
G lorious was the morning I climbed the Scottish highland
R adiant warmth of Summer's sun shimmered over the trail
E mblazoned with clover, near a forested Wych Elm stand
A stonished at the scenic vista, my lofty imagination set sail
T raipsing across the North Sea, I was Captain in command
E lusive was the tailwind on my adventurous nautical escape
S cotland clamored for my return, 'Make haste. Hurry home!
C ast your notions upon the wind. Your spinnaker, undrape
A nother day will you play, when in illusory flight you roam
P erchance invite another dreamer and don your Tartan cape
E mbark upon a getaway beyond the heathered hills of loam'
Categories:
embarked, adventure,
Form:
Acrostic
The weeping willow wept and withered.
Lovers swore their love, carving hearts.
Initials replaced her perfect bark.
Pains of loves or lost loves embarked.
Each time young lovers sat beneath her bows,
She watched kissing and tender touches.
Then, out came the knife … OUCH!
44 words
5/20/2017
Written for ONE of FIVE-70 words or less - Poetry Contest Sponsored by Laura Loo
Categories:
embarked, love, nature, tree,
Form:
Free verse
Written: April 29, 2024
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What a riddle our love was!
we embarked on an ariose trip
with balmy stride, we undertook
Elysian and Empyreal it was
a blissful encounter
an idyllic peace is meant to be,
a serendipitous path
crystal levels of azure size,
our spirits entwined
before we ever knew
we're infatuated now,
It rings with truth.
One's pulse quickens
In every kismet,
I never expected to feel this way
I have proof of that now,
In your grip, my soul resides,
and I will hold on forever
my love is growing stronger,
you are aware of the flow of time.
Our love is euphoric,
every day, I express my felicity,
for love unforeseen,
I was bestowed with a gift,
you unexpectedly invaded my life,
It spun my world around,
wreaking pandemonium
While we were together.
In awe, my heart soars, spellbound.
love is unexpected and divine.
everything came to fruition
you delight me and warm my heart,
our hearts beat in sync.
Categories:
embarked, analogy, appreciation, love,
Form:
Free verse
My car is equipped with maps and a GPS
With a great fear of getting lost I am obsessed
Men seem to have a different navigation system
Asking for directions is too far beneath them
Tony and I embarked on a cross-country tour
Didn’t start out that way, just took multiple detours
Tony didn’t like the GPS talking voice
Rather than listen, he turned it off by choice
Each time we stopped for gas, I wanted to seek help
But if I approached someone, Tony’d let out a yelp
The White Mountains should have been a hundred-mile drive
With two days on the road, I thought I’d not survive
“Turn right now, make a left, heck just keep going straight”
Commands from the King of the Road did not abate
But it wasn’t until we saw the first palm tree
That I’d had my fill and let out an urgent plea
“Huh,” he replied, “guess YOU drove just a bit off course
Those Canadians will want to see our passports”
“That’s the Mexican border patrol up ahead!”
I screeched, turned around and away I quickly sped
*For Francine's "Whatever You Say, Dear" Contest
Categories:
embarked, funny
Form:
Couplet
When a child if gifted with a book it transforms into a key to unlock the mind. The gate to the secret garden of imagination is pried from its forgiving hinges and the child is free to expand their imagination to galaxy proportions.
The simple pages of a book provide a passport for a passenger seat next to the likes of Captain Biggles in his Tibetan adventures to locate the forbidden city of Shangri Lah, or a magical flight to Neverland with Pan and the lost boys. Who knows how each “child’s mind’s eye will envisage the loathsome creature that is Mr Hyde or the demure Dr Jekyll?
It captures the heart of a parent to witness their young boy, lying on his bed, engrossed in the pages of Stevenson’s Kidnapped. His imaginings transform him into the character of David Balfour, fighting alongside the Jacobite rebel, Alan Stewart. Such a comforting vision is a young girl, lounging on the couch on a rain soaked winters afternoon, fanning through a copy of Anne of Green Gables, engrossed in the character of Anne Shirley, wishing to emulate her outgoing spirit and giving nature.
The abundant bread basket of literary expositions act as a conduit, unlocking a child’s ability to make judgements about morality, injustices and an understanding of consequences in decision making. All the while the simple act of quietly reading procures an incalculable and surreptitious response to education for a lifetime to come.
The nostalgic aroma of floral vanilla and almonds that emit from the pages of an old book invokes a sense of anticipation to the imaginary adventures about to be embarked upon, creating an atmosphere of ambivalence.
An implore to parents across the globe to leave the television set and so-called social media, bombarding a child’s mind like a tidal wave, leaving in its wake a desolate landscape of nothingness. Embrace the tactile feel of pages in hand, gently stroking the mind, embedding feelings of, wonder and imagination. Read to your children every day and encourage them to jamb their noses into literary masterpieces from the likes of Stevenson, Doyle, Dickens and many more worthy exponents that have stood the test of time.
Categories:
embarked, adventure, books, children,
Form:
Free verse
"La forêt interdite"
In my soul
there You,
The Flame,
spend the
better part of my
night and day
playing your
naked mind
o’er my heart
The Shrew
a wilding to
be tamed, a
coaxing coquette,
bids come
now,
pluck my
Golden Chord
Insolent
I lay spread
before you
an alter
set to
bow your head
to kiss
the place of
wanton worship
between
the pages
of my
unfurling
forbidden
Lilith
Forest
Blushing
Blooms of
Jade and
Blue
(LadyLabyrinth/2019)
"La lune contrôle les marées et vous contrôlez mon coeur"
"Amour qui déplace le soleil et les autres étoiles"
" Le Baiser " / Jean-Louis Murat
https://youtu.be/1QMI2DPgtbM
“As flowerlets drooped and puckered in the night
turn up to the returning sun
and spread their petals wide
on his new warmth and light -
just so my wilted spirits rose again
and such a heat of zeal
surged through my veins
that I was born anew.”
“I care not where my body may take me,
as long as my soul
is embarked
on a meaningful journey”
“Come follow me, and leave the world to its babblings.”
1. Lyrics: Le Baier
https://www.flashlyrics.com/lyrics/jean-louis-murat/le-baiser-84
Categories:
embarked, freedom, romance, sensual, word
Form:
Romanticism
Deceit of sun when rays are still but porous;
unwelcome thief, afford my dream more seconds.
Some dappled shadows flit through mystic keyhole;
alight upon pellucid remnant image.
I stifle yawn as thoughts embrace the vision.
My ever-restless spirit merits story
which doesn’t evanesce at first obstacle
encountered when issues foisted upon me.
Embarked on travels, trinkets of high finesse
that crossed the boundaries of reality.
The past firmly imbedded in the future,
illuminating a path predictable and
imbued with fantasy and peccant grandeur.
Adroitly I manoeuvred through initial
self-doubt that plagued a multitude of people.
Circumlocutory whim of eidolon
expertly gathered evidence to support
demand that’s straddling realms, but I will resist.
I read the missive through and then carefully
enfold my dreams in cocoon, preserving them.
Unpleasant facts I spat out like an obol
that’s placed under tongue of recently deceased.
The critics can wait with Charon for day of
reckoning – future set aside for visions.
My dreams swim at the edge of river’s conscience.
Expectations made dreams luminesce brightly,
but withered in morning sun’s naïve splendour.
Like sands in the hourglass, the grains of wisdom
filtered through consciousness and needled thinking.
I set aside the search for epiphany.
Categories:
embarked, dream, fantasy,
Form:
Iambic Pentameter
Acciaccatura
And filled with stars and the land
A pale gentle hand turned the hourglass
Of my soul
Stalking the alabaster moon
I rejoined once more
Those who follow the dream
Cutting through crests
Time the scythe of a barque
Treads a song of brothers to sisters of paradise
The prow our ship a searching
Arch-ed carrying the whispered will
Of wishings an ambition to our hearts
Pursuing the alchemy of the moon
Leaping from the shoals
A single white rose this beacon to follow
The mariners we of her phantasmal
Blown by the hunger in blood and breath
Drifting in the calm thunder tethered to a single kiss
Full of stars and the land
A pale gentle hand turns the hourglass
Of my soul
The ghost in our throats calling
Seducing answers to the lamplet
Painted faces of splendour in her horizons distant
She softly sings us closer
Passage through the veils
Drawing on this our meandering ark
An endless ribbon of red flows behind
The vein of each passing quest
As this ship awash the glinting semblance of her face
I have chosen like my brothers, my sisters; to be the seafarer
To search her shadow
Pursue the alabaster moon
Her pale gentle hand
Filled with stars and the land
Turns the hourglass of my soul
Isis the light and by Dianna named
Magdalena’s rose of mystery proclaimed
The witchcraft of the feminine
Thus the sail-ed cutter of waves and dreams
Embarked
Billowed on clouds
The diamond sea we gather
Compass point to reflection
The full moon risen alabaster
Her pale gentle hand
Filled with stars and the land
Turned the hourglass of my soul
(Acciaccatura; An ornament note that is one half step or one whole step below a principal
note and is sounded at the same time as the principal note, adding dissonance to a
harmony. a note in a music deliberately played out of key )
Categories:
embarked, love, mystery, naturemoon, rose,
Form:
Free verse
Wish I knew you when I was young
Wish I knew you when I was young
When journey of my desires had just begun
As lyrics of my romantic life were being written
And the song of my rhythm remained unsung.
As I encountered my dream of unknown theme
No one ever resembled your state of elegance,
Not knowing the pathway to worthy eloquence
I embarked on a course of least resistance.
Why do I feel so attracted to your presence
Mesmerized by your utmost shiny luminance
As you stand there gazing my lone appearance
Unaware that I'm already married to a gentleman.
Yet, I stay engaged in the game of hide and seek
Following your vibes to take a stolen peek
As you pause to shake hands with a firm grip
When I clumsily inform you my feelings run deep.
I decided to meet you knowing nothing about you
For urge tugged fervor unlike anything I knew
Getting lost in fables that seldom come true
Seeking refuge in secret wishes patently new.
And I felt playful as we stopped by for ice cream
Travelling back to days when life was carefree
Telling you coyly about my husband and children
Crossing norms of naivety with a reckless abandon.
You said goodbye as anguish flared your wistful eyes
Retreating hastily upon hearing my hesitant sigh
And I let go of your grip on my wanting sheen
Fascinating in solitude how things might have been.
November 22, 2017
Wish I knew you when I was young
Sponsor: Julie Leigh Rodeheaver
First Place
Categories:
embarked, desire, longing,
Form:
Verse
I have seen them stand outside my door,
pleading mother to help stage their show,
on our verandah with stony floor,
tattered clothes, hungry child, wife on tow!
dusty robes speak of miles he walked,
two woven baskets on wooden yoke,
usual wares with which he embarked,
a venomous trade to feed his folks!
with widened eyes I saw him sit down,
his sweat pouring down in summer heat,
mopping face and brow with long sleeved gown,
asks favour of water, food to eat!
rested and nourished his show is on,
a crowd of urchins get a free peep,
melody like from an old car horn,
he blows sharp and sweet but yet so deep.
speckled cobra nearly five feet long,
rocks in anger with an open hood,
heat of summer is no time for song,
disturbed from slumber, how very rude!
As child was overawed by his skills,
such deadly snakes controlled by his Been*,
there is tragedy behind each thrill,
truth of life, often hidden unseen!
snake charmer’s life is twin tragedy,
education denied from a child,
for snake it is to be in custody,
to lose their freedom to rule the wild!
let’s solve this tale with education,
help their children go to a good school,
use their skills to help conservation,
so the snakes roam free, the wild to rule!
*Been a musical flute made from a coconut shell used by snake charmers to distract the snake
Premier contest winner (3)
Written 4/01/2021
9 syllables each line except one that has 10 syllables
‘The Snake Charmers’ poetry contest
Kai Michael Neumann sponsored
Categories:
embarked, 10th grade, 11th grade,
Form:
Rhyme
Allegory allegory,
Giving God all the Glory
Mission impossible
With all that bravado
Smooth as silk
So believed by the ilk
Just like Tom Cruise
The mission is possible
With what we'll use
We'll just seemed
falsely accused
Don't worry we cant lose
I am, I am is what he claimed
Not knowing the gravity
of using that name
Did you ask the farmer
before milking that cow
Why ask a spiritualist
the way and how
Why did you actually tell them
to kill the sow
Now your in trouble
and don't know how?
So you made a wrong turn
and now your lost
Google maps not working
What good is being Boss
The hills are unforgiving
and it's starting to rain
the passengers getting worried
and starting to act insane
the fear is unforgiving
and so is the dark
we should've consider the life
we're living
before we embarked.
Categories:
embarked, allegory,
Form:
Free verse