Best Encircling Poems
I watched them gather round
The warmth of your flame
Like campers at campfire time
Huddling close to you
Pushing and jostling
For the best place
I saw your warmth
Dancing off their faces
Small cinders escaping into the night
I followed the sparks drifting up
On the chilly breeze
Riding high…disappearing into the stars
I was cold
I was alone
On the edge
And yet…I dared not go near you
Though your light invited me
And I wanted so much to be warmed
By you
Yet….how could I find a place
By those encircling you
Watching the mesmerizing display
Of your orange and yellow flames
There was no place
Among the gathering of....
The strong, the beautiful, the insistent
So, on the outskirts I stayed
Tears trickling down my cheeks
Cold
Alone…
I waited…I held back
Until they all left
One by one
Some bumping into me
Not even aware that I was alive
I waited until you had almost died out
No longer on display
But a warm glow of embers
Still orange and glowing with desire
And I approached
Shyly…
Longingly…
Needing to see you dance
For me….only for me
And I coaxed you
In my clumsy way
My fingers cold
My heart ablaze
Suddenly....you burst into flame
A pillar of fire
Miracle of love
For I had not added any kindling
But my little heart
And yet it seems you had waited
Knowing I would come
And my slightest touch
Made the flames spring to life
Voracious flames
Flames reaching the high heavens
Your heat overpowering
Consuming
I almost threw myself into you
Wanting to reach the center
Of the heat and warmth
Of your beauty…
I spent the night
Out under the stars
Lying naked
Yet not cold
Naked
Yet not ashamed
Naked
Yet not shy
For your glow was my covering
I let myself be touched
Time and again
By licking fingers of fire
By the burning flames of your desire
For….ME!
For Gail's Contest
Touched by Your Flame
May 27, 2013
Sweet youth with its ghostly shadows of regret
encircling the mind of an aging maid...like vultures
waiting to descend
Capturing those passions left unspoken
from a self-conscious shy student in church choir.
His flawless skin drew me in like an invisible magnet.
My eyes followed his every unnoticed move
in anguished longing.
My silent lips uttered no audible words even when
he reached out to touch my long deep golden hair.
I reminisce and suddenly he's right here
His jet black hair and handsome face remain frozen
in youth as my words left, unspoken.
4-23-19
~Second Place~
Honourable Mentions worth mentioning.
Sponsor Richard Lamoureux
Contest Judged: 5/12/2019 9:11:00 AM
WHAT WAS LEFT UNSAID~HM~
Contest Judged: 4/24/2019 8:46:00 PM
Sponsored by: Line Gauthier |
Skimming through paragraphs,
I seem to stretch time and shrink my attention
Underlining words I can't grasp
With my limited span of concentration,
Creating art I can't explain
Stick men and asymmetrical shapes,
Spiralling into mazes and dotted lines
Lost in an alphabet jungle.
Encircling page numbers,
Decorating the margins with unflattering flowers,
Marking pages with , blue, pink, fluorescent ink, washing them dry
And awfully bright, missing out on the 'fatality rate' mentioned.
Little wings sprouting from a wavering mind, flying away from topics of discussion.
Dragging my imaginary feet across events in memory;
faces and voices muffled and in disarray
Eyes still glued to statistics and rates,
But seeing ten thousand flickery lights ;
dreams of glitter and starry nights.
Thoughts then seem like little bubbles,
helping me procrastinate much longer.
A finger snap would sound like a rifle shot at this point,
Shattering the world I made,
And awareness rising from rubbles,
Would speak for itself, about things I cannot evade.
Rays of sunlight awaken and skies of sapphire inspire, when mother lies back with eyes veiled, breathing out life and breathing in spirit. She is the fertile earth and boundless sky. She glides through eternity, rising and falling. Her hair, once the color of midnight, now shines silver like beams from the full moon, and the stars encircling her, illuminate creation, igniting dreams and enchanting sleepless nights. As we, who no longer walk barefoot upon the earth, busy ourselves, forgetting to lift our eyes in witness to her majesty and her beauty and her grace. Our hearts still beat in unison with her essence. Beneath the stars, we walk upon the same dusty earth as our ancestors. The sky rumbles all around us with echoes of the past, and in stillness, she feels the knees of the forgotten pressed against her chest giving thanks for her nurturing breath.
spirits veil her eyes -
drifting through sapphire sky
constellations align
*Haibun form inspired by Susan Seddon Boulet’s Gaia
(for Debbie Guzzi’s Free Verse, Prose, Haibun Contest, 11/1/2014)
The night fell all around me
sunshine washed away
by salty drops
dripping down
onto my pillow
blurring my mind
I saw visions
beautiful visions
Bright as day
Her light was there to guide me
cross around her neck
white flower in her hair
cascading gently downward
upon the bottom of her neck
taking my hand
we walk
barefoot in the sand
Her touch
her sweet touch
pulling me close
her soft pink lips
coming close
oh so close
pulling me in
feelings so right
Our lips touch
pure bliss
what a kiss
releasing me
tip of her tongue
encircling mine
emotions exploding
losing track of time
a moment,
a lifetime
I will never forget
setting me free
letting me be me
You are beautiful, like fire in the night,
warming me with no boundry
heating me with severity
burning me right,
encircling me with love danger delight,
rattling my manhood's ********
lapping through circulation
engulfing my might,
How could I be in love
with the wind, earth or water
when I have you, my Mistress of Fire,
Enchantress of my blood bud, of my dark dove,
a flamed feathered rub
you lick around my head of history
using red and gold strokes to paint mystery
supernatural seductress of bonfire therapy, I delve,
I stoke you repeatedly with my masculine trunk,
you spray sparks like a star in oval ******,
catching you with my soul's hot prism
we give our lust divine *****,
price for thee, my heart's eternity you've drunk,
You, a woman rediscovering love of song
I, exploring rose ritual in your dawn,
Muse and Poet, minx and hunk -
J.A.B.
Legends of tribes roam across the plains
Bold spirits guarding their own mighty land
They dance and offer songs to ease lost reign
And nourish life when soldiers flag on,
Encircling a bonfire with shaman’s praise.
The whisper of the winds gives them strength
An Indian terrain, they protect
Oh, hear drumbeats pound a mighty roar
As chieftain gathers the arrow’s quest
For the call of blood, for freedom’s dreams.
Legends passed from generations
Navajos marginalized, tales unfold
When duskfall speaks of native wisdom
To recount strides in brave moccasins
Marking prints from whisper of the winds.
'In the Name of Love for Country -
and Brian's Select 6
SHALL WE DANCE
Shall we dance, as two snakes encircling one another,
A bite to the strike, whom draws the first blood of
Passions bitter poison.
Venomous vipers, engaged in a twisted game of hidden desires,
Shielded by golden bands of confinements vows of promise,
Yet yielding under the guise of the serpent’s folk tongue.
Reptilian lovers Intertwining, beneath the light rays of the
Elliptical moons illumination, deceiver’s side slithering,
The truth of reality’s harsh dawning to come.
Desert tempest creatures, crushed under the swelling
Sand storms of destiny, rising in the winds rip tidal shift
Of exotic’s throngs of passion, then dashed upon the
Rocks of calamity’s destructive force.
Behold the skins of shame, we’ve shed in this our lost
Garden of paradise called Eden, as we descend limb
By limb, unraveling, retanggling, in a mutual enticement’s
Partaking of the unripen fruit, in this the harvested
Orchard of deceit, and lies of pleasure spoils.
Rattling’s bad to the bone species, are these
Deceiver’s dwelling under the moonlight,
Loves vanquished, by passions burnt embers
Of lusts cold blooded flame.
Veracity’s fiercest retile's in mortal combat
With their human hearts, or their raw physical
Basic instincts, the animal within themselves,
The beast of desire, exposing the coiling in raptures
After glow of the exotic.
In the emerald eyes of the snakes flashing, these
Are the transfixed, paralyzed prisoners of loves
Passionate vipers, the cursed of the forbidden.
Poisons intoxicated figures, silhouetted in the red
Moons seduction zone, he the hooded king cobra,
And I his empress taipan of the orient.
Glittering do our scales of temptation, damnation,
Oh but to die in this incoilment’s display of eternal
Abandonment, a climatic apex of poisonous predators,
Ripping, tarring at their bare exposed fleshes
Atonement, unsheived are these carnivores
Of passion.
Shall we dance, as two snakes encircling one another,
A bite to the strike, whom draws the first blood
Of passions bitter poison.
BY: CHERYL ANNA DUNN
I met someone I know quite well, he gets about in cars, does buy and sell.
He spoke to me upon a theme, we were stirring coffee; I had just added my cream.
When (Fiat) money, he intoned..)
This word does it ring a bell?
Of it have you heard; or known, do tell.?
The cost of Fiat cars I then proclaimed'
No it’s of money I speak,he said if it’s all the same,
I had bought some autos and to me the word was told,
That it is money without collateral backing, that’s the truth stone cold!
So in this stressured contemporary rhyme, I think I must… It’s now high time
In fact a lack of sober views and action which did not ensue...
Control! ….. control!, "well they did not" now high (inflation) pop pop pops..!
Consume, consume they said and greed is good for all..!
Poor old Jim john and Doug..) Rachel, Joan and Queenie McCall..!
A dream was sold and lives were told, It’s Oh! so safe, more so than gold!
Now Fiat cash is on the scene, they run it off Oh! ream on ream
Just like my coffee encircling mug, so here’s to the truth lets give it a plug.
When I again pour in my cream,
as it begins to merge like inflations infusion, Maybe I’ll dream.
That financial fiasco’s and social screams are only rumours on a jittery theme,
However until "their problem" has been (sold), I’ll trade some paper cash for gold.
© Joe Maverick 13-11-2010
meadow obeys the fragrant breeze
caressing the waves encircling love
sweet scent of the passion
while a clement moon rises.
© Harry J Horsman 2014
A small speck of pureness
drips upon my smouldering heat
a white towel drops
and euphoric moans erupt
I'm a steamy mess
encircling every inch
of your elegance
release upon me
as I delve into
your delicate pores
close your eyes and breathe me in
I'm your refreshing relaxant
expelling stress
I caress and address
your pressing needs
one more sip
and I'll hold you in my path
discovered in stones
where worries disrobe
Teetering on a fine line
stretching across the western horizon,
suspended fire, glowing orange-red ball,
slowly receding, slipping downward
until, just out of sight,
split into a thousand shades and tints
like fine lead crystal, broken,
pastel fragments scattered on the clouds,
a pearl necklace encircling
the sky’s bare neckline
before evening’s black velvet cloak
encircles her shoulders.
Copyright, August 13, 2016
Dancing with delusions, sparks of hellfire
Course through my lugubrious quill pen.
Distorted words igniting fear,
Anxiety fills crevices,
Encircling, silencing,
Asphyxiating.
Walls closing in,
Compressing.
Hope fades,
Doom.
Dread
Runs cold.
Veins poisoned,
Sanity slips
Unmercifully.
The angels are mimicked.
Light dimming, darkness descends
As demons mingle with the dead.
Apocalyptic skies crack open
To wash away all that you held sacred.
Beautiful one
its you I adore,
your angelic way,
the knowledge you store.
Grace resides
upon your skin,
sparking my heart
to beat again.
You have brought
emotions to the surface
changing my cauldron-like body
into a desire filled furnace,
making me crave
your healing touch
that which resides
in no other as much.
Its you
my beauteous beast
who drives my hunt
to look for a satisfying feast,
dodging trees
under the full moon
as I find ways
to deal with this Boone
Silk black sky
speckled with glitter
leaving me
to write about my critter,
swooping down
on gossamer wings
before landing
encircling me in rings.
And even though
its true
my body shakes
waiting to bite you,
forever
I’ll wander my land
Until next to you
I can stand.
Of first embrace and broken glass
I cherish that first spark
New light upon our forest' dark.
Do you recall that northern wind?
It came at first so swift
Perhaps our growing light enraged
Poor Hopelessness', her whims denied
Inspired shadows from retreat
Those having once left us in our light.
"There's hope for you!” her battle cries
“Forwards; towards the glowing night
Attack! The lion will not bite
I promise he will turn blind eyes
Go back! I will cover your eyes!”
“Follow storms winds descent
True path through forests dense
Enter hence.
Rip, tear, rent!
From low to high
Head to toes
Even to above
Where dark forest glows
Churn even these shades
Whites and grays
Yellows arrayed,
Where once were dulled
"My children do not stop there!"
She would say,
"You must inscribe them full
Lest unseen hopes, occupy as slivers
As pretending tones, they have been known to hide
Shimmers upon the edge of shades
We must leave them emptied, lost whims, denied
Their ways left as waste to ruins
Despairs do not relent with dooms
Leaving chance to sparks in time
Per chancing kindles from hearts that loom.”
“Descend, my raging opaque!
The dense itself engrave
Teach young love old lessons
That she may now know at such young age
The heart of this forest lessened.”
“Now go' my shadowed tails delight
Slice sharp paths without care
Cause those within their ears too bear
The roaring of fresh leaves…
Torn from their rightful place
Before the given time”
“Dying screams let them endure
Let them feel your shadows
….Purge!”
The cold so swift
We were so sure This was spring
........residues
Your body’s naked form, lovely
Dropping, encircling our flame
Dying breath
Woman’s instinct
Nurturing
Disregarding winds intent
Then came the rains' extinguishing
Saving coals
Your hands were warm
My feet were cold
I shiver at this memory.
…Rains cold intensity
The downpour overcoming
Me
I'm sorry I could not see
My circle enclosed circles now
Circling
I knew the dark complete
As our smoke heavenward arose
To late this pittance; ash offerings
Ashes on the ground
Then came the rivers rage
Cutting its path through the heart
Forever too leave
Forever leaving its mark
Upon our forest dark
Meandering on; its choosing path
And I with it beside; belonged
For a chosen time
My love again I say
For a chosen time
Do you understand?
I chose the time of days
My shame