Best Encloses Poems
I've constructed a picket fence around me to keep jackanapes out
Through pickets they can see me, but I never allow them to touch
private parts of me I keep concealed, and don't talk about so much
I keep whitewashing my fence, cleansing it from things left in doubt
When my boards become exposed to prying eyes that shouldn't see
I open another bucket of watered-down paint and reach for a brush
to cover the flaws, my faults within, and I am always in such a rush
to whiten and brighten the facade out front. The veneer veiling me.
There is a gate with well-worn hinges, but usually it's kept locked
to prevent invaders who would dare trespass on my every thought
Those who'd despoil my fence with graffiti and rip my boards apart
Hence, one reason why I keep a supply of whitewash well-stocked
I am the prismed reflection of my surroundings, including my fence
where no webs shall arachnids weave within my weathered boards.
I will apply a coat of whitewash to my palisade as the need affords
It is a beachhead between me and crawlers; my penury of defense
Twining around my picketed railings, grows a vine of climbing roses
The virtuous blooms are never cut to prolong each inculpable stem
They shroud malevolent fingers pointed at me that would condemn
I shrive every foible and failing that my whitewashed fence encloses
May 28, 2023
W T F Poetry Contest
Sponsor: John Lawless
The photos stopped
when you were 10 or 11.
Around that time, you started refusing to
have your pictures taken.
A few candid shots are all I’ve
managed since then.
In them, the look on your face is growing inward,
as a cocoon slowly encloses you in a
translucent mystery,
turning you into a dark silhouette
as you start to construct your
own parallel universe,
in a tug of war with a thousand things
you are just starting to learn the meaning of,
morphing into what the world will know,
what I will, with any luck,
recognize only with squinted eyes
when the cocoon reopens.
For now, I can’t see you.
All I can do is wait.
Came from California, looking for a place to fall:
Portland’s good as anywhere, and now it’s best of all;
Learned to love the roses, and the rivers full of rain;
California drove me north, and Portland drove me sane.
Leaving all my memories back behind where they belong,
Sang a song of roses, and I let it make me strong,
Lifting up my life inside my hands to make it grow
Tall as any mountain rising mighty in the snow.
Sing a song of roses,
Dreams of me and you,
Portland love encloses
Dreams of me and you,
Sing a song of roses.
Gentle people welcoming you, with an open hand,
Mighty people not afraid to fight to keep their land;
City on the river floating ships from overseas;
People soft as roses, people tough as Oregon trees.
Been a long time coming, but I’m here to rest awhile,
Never mind the highway, never mind the weary mile;
You and me and roses, and the salmon in the streams;
Can’t believe were thriving, Portland rain has washed our dreams.
I am torn
I am shattered
I am bound and broken
Heavy shackles on my feet
--Chains in my heart!
I can't move
I can't breathe
The world closes in
Darkness encloses me in its thick blankets.
My heart so somber,
--Beats so loudly I fear it will burst!
Tears fill my eyes and blind my way,
I can't move
I can't see
I can't feel
I am blind
I am deaf
I am numb
I am a slave
My wings broken, my spirit crushed
I am dead, he is gone
I am alone and cold
Now, I fear I will never be whole again.
By; MARY
I ntegrity wins the game
N ot much escapes MORALITY
T ime takes apathy and encloses it in a gilded cage
H holidays are ever lasting, cheerful and filled with luster
I ntimacy is always allowed to speak out loud
S ocial skills are encouraged and enhanced
W ords of wisdom without apprehension are spoken aloud
O bedience is mastered in substantial ways
R econciliation is all we ever hear
L ove is always the last URGE
D ishonesty is lost in Gray SOLITUDE
A world where RIGHTEOUSNESS lives and POSITIVITY overflows. A WORLD of utopian DAYS locked in perfection' s EMBRACE
So pure the streams in light that quivers
While the silver rains of spring composes
Fragrant the buds poised soft by the rivers
Oh lets pluck those lily bright roses!
While birds will kiss the mountain spray
When the tender light of morn reposes
On the loving winds that gently sway
On the buds of those lily bright roses.
That draws its inspiration from the dew
That in purity's grace our sad thoughts encloses
When the pulse of love may spring anew
From the buds of those lily bright roses.
That together as one they unite to grace
Slumbering winds and delicate noses
How wondrous be, when spring embrace
The buds of those lily bright roses.
That rides the mist of the midday breeze
When my joyous thoughts of life supposes
That I hear their songs like humming trees
Oh the sighs of those lily bright roses!
Afore falling in his arms they advice to think twice
Unregretful I act beyond my surprise
It’s the grip of a force, a force here to claim
Compelling, like a moth drawn to the flame
Every night encloses the heat of flaming souls
But sun kissed morning plays a wicked role
To my realization it brings an obvious question
What next to prevent conception?
Like always, I pop in a pill to save the bill
My guy admires the worth of a contraceptive pill
It causes side-effects. Ah! How would he know?
He enjoys the freedom of reckless show
Nevertheless, I look at kids and admire their innocence
Wish the pill could kill within me my maternal pretence!
You are my soul.
Without you life does not
Breathe or bring
Existence to all the
Colors that surround and
Circulate my being.
I know we have been
Connected long before time was
Time and wrong became right.
My Dearest,
Meaning has become
Real, reliable, dependable—
Authentic,
Like no other tangible thing
I could ever trust to know.
In you, I have found
My left and right,
My east and west,
My direction,
My compass
In a world where I would surely
Be as lost as the stars searching
For salvation from the deep
Dark space that surrounds and
Encloses them.
Please find all the comfort and
Compassion in knowing that you
Have and will always be—
Forever!
And what forever
Will always be,
That certain limitless character
Who has shaped
My past,
My present,
My destiny.
You are my soul.
Submitted for Matt Caliri's "I Love You Because" contest
Surrounded,
Trapped in
Taken out of my home land
Brought into a new place
8000 miles of scared
8000 miles from freedom
8000 miles of bars,
That encloses me
Nothing but walls and darkness
So, what is life, other than a cage for me?
I feel as though I am a gift,
Wrapped up,
Made in Africa
Shipped from the motherland
Thrown, broken and given away
Shred from my knowledge
Brainwashed by my owner
Abused by myself
So, what is life, other than a cage for me?
My heart beats faster
The rhythm stuck in my head
2000 miles from love
2000 miles from safety
2000 minutes watching those memories leave me
And only one thing stopping me from running
So, what is life, other than a cage for me?
My mind is lost in thoughts
Thoughts I can’t control
Thoughts that can disappear from me
Thoughts that I can’t stop from traveling back 2000 miles
Thoughts that keep me locked up
So what is life other than a cage for me?
I try to fight past the sights
My eyes have to endure
The sights of my brothers and sisters
Being destroyed by their brothers and sisters
The sights of screams
From a mother trying to save her children
But they already have us
Locked up in boxes,
Shipping us away
So what is life, other than a cage for me?
I smell flesh
Flesh of my four parents
Flesh that has been hung up like beef in a Chinese market
Flesh that has been burning for thousands of years
Flesh waves over my nose,
As I sit here thinking,
What is life, other than a cage for me?
As I sit here wondering,
I can’t help but imagining
Is this the life that Martin Luther King dreamed of?
Is this the life that Malcolm X fought for?
Is this the life that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for?
Is this the life that Lil Wayne tattooed to his body?
Is this the life that Beyoncé sings about?
So I must ask myself one last time,
What is life, other than a cage for me?
Ne'er was there wife, nor love, more Pure than Thou,
Spontaneously funny, innocent,
Heartfelt, who had no harm, nor malice -- how
Delightful, every hour with you I spent!
In earnest, clean, your thoughts and motives were,
Imperfect, and impatient, willful, strong!
As lovely, purple lilies in wind stir,
But not as lovely, the impatient gong
That called you to Ascend the Crystal Stair.
Ne'er were there eyes as clear, dark, twinkling, 'mused
Nor hair as thick, soft, full as flax - despair
Encloses me like dark about me fused,
When I remember you have upward gone,
Yet all these gifts burst in my heart, like song!
3/20/2019
Does upon this kingdom of wiseacres tribes
“Realize”
that bona fide beauty is adept its component of flesh
it is but beauty alone that occupies radiance
for itself only shall emit distinction
to play lark accurately from within
beauty is no less successor of serenity
as it to is flexibility of all sin
the mere flesh a skeleton shall bare
is to be inspired solely from the root, emotions master
of which the skeleton so rightly encloses
of the uttermost protected, vulnerability from human hand
the bearer of our fears
the ruler of our breath
its gentility creates sight into naivety
bequeathing each drawn day a reason for life
as is not to alls insight futuristically
the exposed flesh may only breed conceit
of all superficial peepers
where else a glowing aura shall outshine when content
it may nor can survive justification
simply as an optical illusion
beauty is aglow burning within each individual
natural beauty is the efflorescence of interpretation
Bona fide beauty may be felt
It is the diagram profoundly sketched
Within humanities heart!
JD
Form:
Mountain of Madness
Mystical powers of dark secrets live here
Ordinary people will change from the fear
Underneath the dirt is home to its demons
Narcissism is this mountains achievement
Terrifying crevices and hollow creeks
Anarchist climate not for the weak
Intelligence lives within its whispering winds
Nighttime encloses all men in sin
Omnipotent when you listen to unspoken words
Frightening in a manner that's quite absurd
Maniacal is its theme to which you relate
Agonizing in no memories as it captures your fate
Delirious you'll become if you travel too far
Numbing your mind in a mental spar
Echoes of everything to drive you insane
Solidifying its control of your meager brain
Silently you weep because you can't remember your name
05/16/16
Sometimes, earth and sea and sky
Act in concert and entreat me.
It’s as if they inquire with a sigh
How can you doubt what you see?
There is design in flower blossoms
In butterfly wings, and a bee’s flight.
I am driven to call them awesome
Why against God do I deign to fight?
The question catches in my brain
And summons age-honed doubts.
Life’s unfairness cuts cross the grain,
Leading me to ponder other routes.
But alternate answers fail to compete
With the majesty that encloses me.
It matters not where I wish to seek
Deity’s hand has dressed every tree.
An illusion of euphoric freedom,
a bubble that encloses them from all sides
and they float in it awed by its iridescence.
Swirling rainbow images could be seen on its layer,
miming untold tales of enchantment
with each lurching bounce as it levitates higher.
When actually it is a death trap,
a spell that isolates them from reality
and soon they succumb to destructive compulsion.
Itches of dark temptation lead to scary scars;
more they scratch, worst the wounds become.
By the time the bubble bursts, they are already dead.
Date: 05/01/2018
Soul rich beauty, boundless resources
Filled with deep venous riches
Rising from beyond perfectionist blast
What strange natural goddesses look?
One with such grace and contentedness
Sweet lilies, bitter roses
Green, red, yellow inky
Filled with inflated love and grounded greenness
Dirt that surpasses cleanliness
Storminess, closure, seizure
Peace encloses to safe keep
Mother Nature, Mama Africa
Surprisingly factual above all power
Weathers off ailments and danger
Destroyer of anxiousness
Bringer of peace and happiness
Mon esprit, Mama Afrique