Best Enforced Poems
listen,
the whispers
of leaves
turn colour
autumn is here.
now that you are gone
who will wake every morn
to lift the sun
unveil the sky
etch in the clouds
who will paint the rainbow?
i had a dream and in the dream i wove you a poem
i used the fiber of my character to create spools of silken thread
dipped in the juices of my passion i dyed them in the colors of my imagination
re-enforced each and every single strand with the strength of my love
touch,
the echoes
of the rain
- waters
- blossoms spring.
now that 'us' is just a word
no longer with you as one
i alone wind up metal toys
cut out paper dolls
the beach swept from under my feet
the child in me flees.
spun spools from the intricacy of my spirit
designed a pattern
to the rhythm
of the music
of my inner thoughts
enamoured in your vision
crystal beads gather on my brow
as i toil your finely bred gift
as i braid every part of me
with every memory
into every sliver of fabric
taste,
uncut
snow shapes
crisp cold
ices the wintertide.
instead now rusted
a fools gold chain of loneliness
hangs around my neck like a noose
mourns a union that once had breath
a twosome that now is dead.
see,
the sand sculptures
paint
rekindle
a childhood summer
past.
sew in the loving glow emits my flawless dreams
with my boiling blood initial my woven piece
my work at an end i awake
you lay there a wingless angel asleep
smiling as if you heard a bell ring
your boundless warmth embraces me
the moon no longer smiles
the stars no longer wink
smell,
seasonal airs
stimulates senses
memories they deliver.
without a touch
barely - i kiss you.
in this
my decade of one
hope is a wickless candle
the night just day without light
in the glee,
hopes and dreams,
in the human spirit,
lives the miracle of life.
magnificent
voices in every pitch
deep and resounding,
the melody of echoes and whispers – uncut.
Jan 4 2017
With Love
Armand
Categories:
enforced, break up, celebration, devotion,
Form:
Free verse
Dear anxiety
Nemesis to my reality,
mental manipulator of tentative trust,
massacring my once sagacious soul -
you cut me into a slice of loneliness.
The fault is in our thoughts,
so I am haunted by the things you never said.
You remain silent to society's subjective eyes,
but a glimpse of a poet's soul shivers,
to these vivid verses held by ghosts -
echoing a repetitive chorus in a cathedral of screams.
I'm an uninvited guest in an audience with you,
so I drink poison in every line I write about you.
These words burn my vocal chords,
but I swallow them anyway,
as my paper heart pumps onyx drops
crying through my veins to heartache's recital
of an infected celestial mind yearning for a remedy.
But life is a cupid cruelty in dulcet disguise,
when your heart is a sinister seashell,
oblivious to potions of omen brewed in pigments of pixie-dust.
You're an unwelcome melody to my mystic,
composing an internal deadly demeanour.
I am the ink stuck in your cage,
dissolving like acid in your controlled carnage,
confined to trembling bleeding intuitions,
lost in corridors of horrific obscure mirrors,
whilst paranoia palpitates in a whirling haze of
magnetic ice warmth, melting my sanity,
amidst crumbling stars that lure cavernous comets
of silver grief to pirouette above frozen seas draped with
a fluorescent creme of skies.
As oceanic tides of topaz rise and fall,
flatlined into pewter streams of emptiness.
The moon coruscates in coral blue lies,
passing through intractable phases of trepidation,
abandoning light in black tourmaline nights -
pivoting into a psychedelic trance.
Rainbows fade before we can embrace
their colorful showers drizzling jade jewels
that rhyme with kaleidoscopic kismet,
as life through rose coloured lenses turns
into a provisional poetic manifestation.
If only I could escape this self-inflicted dungeon,
but you pursue like a perpetual predator.
I'll forever expose your oppression through my poems,
confessing how I never asked for this enforced affair.
I know I'm my own storm, I'm my own calm -
I just hope this is the last time I write about you.
Categories:
enforced, angst, anxiety,
Form:
Free verse
Suitcase in hand, a face polarized against
the frosted window pane, searching verily
for continuity of a life that knew no restraint.
Someone’s Grandfather a considerate Uncle,
life’s situation upon the wane, a link within
the prejudicial chain of forfeited souls.
One’s transitions ablaze in the haze, an index
to summarize each hiatus gaze, grappling to come
to terms with this enforced deed of human kindness.
Guided by caring hands, assembled around the room
each demising chair, filled tidily with expressions
of doom and gloom, here where silence specifies
many words, and lifelong sentiment never heard. Yet
I see an old man in remembrance of his youth —
worth listening to if allowed to speak!*
*Thank you Richard Lamoureux. for the inspiration and line.
© Harry J Horsman 2019
Categories:
enforced, age, old,
Form:
Free verse
the tallest I’ve ever seen was in primary
towering like a General in the military
a haggard expression of pain and disgust
the needle like leaves his ooze would discard
he seemed so staunch in his camouflage and upright salute
the pinecones resembling a grenade assault
as curious children do, to climb we were too eager
mystery lay hidden somewhere in his evergreen erect figure
the teacher would soon be called to the rescue
climbing down now an impossible chore
some disciplinary action would be enforced
he wouldn't even be swaying in the wind this unmoveable force
then one day the war would finally be won
it took a couple of grades of broken bones and casting stones
high up in his clutches where our balls would be stuck
he would be uprooted and loaded onto the back of the truck
but when he left, the school grounds seemed so empty
he had retired after generations serving this country
that's why it now felt like such a pyrrhic victory
in hindsight, he was truly our sentry
08-23-2015
Contest: Charlotte Jade Puddifoot's Trees Personified
Categories:
enforced, childhood, school, tree,
Form:
Personification
The Punching Bag - Through the Eyes of a Child
Each day the pattern was the same,
for all Dad’s shortcomings, my Mom got the blame.
WHACK! He cursed her for all his lost dreams…
WHACK! For missed opportunities, and failed schemes.
WHACK! Dad would hit his punching bag again,
to release all his pent-up frustration and pain.
When he felt inadequate and couldn’t cope with life,
he resorted to battering Mom, his “beloved” wife.
Of course, it was always her fault that things were bad;
so he made her suffer for all the troubles he had.
Inflicting her with insults, black-eyes, concussions, and cuts,
he claimed that she deserved them because she was like all sluts.
Craftily he played on her bully-enforced meekness,
getting down on his knees to beg for her forgiveness.
Moods swinging like a pendulum from night to day,
his promises were empty - he would never change his vile ways.
Predictably, he continued to torment her as he pleased,
degrading and abusing her…he never ceased.
He figured low self-esteem would prevent Mom from leaving;
and that she was a nobody, he really had her believing.
He was oh so convinced that needed audacity she lacked,
to ever think of opposing him, or of fighting him back.
Besides, with no family around, no job, and no dough,
he smugly concluded that she had no place else to go.
God knows she was weary of existing in this hell on earth;
and I was tired of seeing her endure all that unbearable hurt.
I had had enough of being terrified by that despicable monster,
who had ruined her and made our lives an utter disaster.
After convincing Mom that inevitably I’d suffer the same fate,
one night, we finally escaped to a shelter before it was too late.
*** Note: Thank God, nothing like this ever happened to me. But this piece is dedicated to those many women and their children who are victims of domestic violence.
08-31-2015
Contest: Through the Eyes of a Child
Sponsor:
Placement: 2nd
Categories:
enforced, abuse, hurt, violence,
Form:
Rhyme
a girl a child a life of 12 years
a by stander an innocent with no sense of fear
coerced, bribed, begged and beckoned
kidnapped, stolen, beaten and threatened
the thoughts now that run deep through her head
is how soon will they find me or soon will i be dead
he gags her, he ties her, he drives her to his lair of death
her heart, her soul, her mind will soon be at rest
he picks her up and puts her in a cold damp room
shes scared as she shivers and ponders her doom
he needs her so he feeds her as he keeps her alive
so he takes her and he rapes her for his sexual thrive
as daylight draws near and the sun starts to rise
all you see are dry tears that flowed from her eyes
with bruises and cuts and blood from her thighs
she was pure no more in her killers eyes
he despised and hated what she had become
unknowingly ignoring what he himself done
his anger and temper begin to arise
as he contemplates death for this young girls demise
he cuts off the cord from the lamp on the desk
he strangles and chokes her until her very last breath
then he drives her and dumps her small body to rest
the next morning they find her with a note on her neck
saying I HAVE JUST STARTED SOMEONE IS NEXT!!!!
Categories:
enforced, death, death, death,
Form:
Rhyme
"Who wrote dese legs?" Said Milligan in Puckoon *
As he surveyed his nether limbs with distaste and dismay
While Jessica Rabbit gave the protest of every 'toon' **
"I'm not really bad. It's just that I was drawn this way"
I share Milligan's discontent with legs and other appendages
As I guess do others, save those narcissistically vain
We seek to have some correction and make 'amendages'
Or at least find some creator whom we can blame
So God, while receiving His due credit when we pray
May be on the receiving end of much lamentation
"Oh why did you give me such faults? why make me this way?
If only you'd done better job in my creation"
Then since it's not our fault, but the way we were drawn
It's not fair! Therefore those better sketched must make reparation
Thus comes about entitlement; enforced welfare is born
Correcting errors? Or just causing more enervation
But in life's dramas do we not each play some role
Maybe having some choice of the part and in writing the script
With a character choosing a purpose, determining a goal
As we stumble through props and scenery and trap-doors tripped
Regardless of who was the author of our book
Whether our lives are our own or in hands of the fates to make hay
The role we have whether hero saint or crook
Determines right now the game that we have to play
Looking to the future if given that I have a voice
In my next life if not made from mud or other dregs
And I have the good fortune to make some personal choice
I will write myself a better pair of legs
Categories:
enforced, hope, inspirational, introspection,
Form:
Verse
So here here it is the new year has begun
And already it hasn't been much fun
Another lockdown
All wearing a frown
And there's no place on earth where we can run...
We were promised a world beating vaccine
And real proof of it has yet to be seen
The virus has mutated
Mankind getting frustrated
And fed up of this enforced quarantine...
Empty promises and false hope are rife
All it brings us is frustration and strife
So roll on next year
Bring much needed cheer
And put normality back into life...
Written 7th January 2021
Categories:
enforced, future, how i feel,
Form:
Limerick
When I ponder about my offspring
I think each and every one of the four
Has unlimited possibilities
Of achieving greatness and then much more
Each has their very own talents
Unique qualities that they can hone
If they don’t put limits upon themselves
Many accomplishments they will own
When they were just learning to talk
There was one four letter word I forbid them to say
I still never want to hear the word “can’t”
Escape from their lips today
Self enforced boundaries
Are the makers of common men
To set yourself apart from others
You have to have the courage to avoid them
I watch my children grow
And learn more every day
When they reach the apex of their lives
“I knew they could”, is what I will say
Written for the "Limitless" Contest on 5/3/2011
Categories:
enforced, inspirational
Form:
Rhyme
I once behaved. Followed all the rules. Understood what was "normal". My parents taught this, teachers demanded this, principals enforced this. Ministers expected it, society reinforced it, friends tested it, professors challenged it.
Then, poetry became my statue of liberty.
following the rules
and behaving normally
no longer appeals
Categories:
enforced, poetry,
Form:
Haibun
fickle crickets:
serenading sirens
of retreat, as chartreuse digits
creep dark alley swamps;
hanging jungle themes invade
quiet dens perpetuated by
creation’s wet glory...croaking:
ancestral tales of grandeur.
mammal sigils:
evoking tootling
trespassers of environmental legacy;
nature redeeming medicines
sustaining miracles of light...EPA
earth.provides.assistance:
yet mankind defers pollution-free
toxic-free lakes of life.
scatter kingdom:
encroaching breaths spew
poisonous darts of entitlement
never biblically enforced;
gather eggs of free-will, lay deep
in vined elegance towering
beneath second-heaven despisers
of extant species.
Categories:
enforced, earth, green, heartbroken, life,
Form:
Free verse
Children get seized at the border;
parents are led away in cuffs.
Under Presidential order
ICE morphed into a gang of toughs.
The United States has no shame
they sold their soul to the devil.
Asylum seekers weren't to blame
for Trump sinking to this level.
Kids are a political tool,
kidnapped from fleeing families.
Enforced by Republican rule,
laws mandate these calamities.
Nazis and fascists rally round
Trump, waving confederate flags.
Hate's propaganda is unbound,
their blood chants recruiting scumbags.
A bigot's voted in power,
a nationalist is in charge.
A man defined by Trump-tower
is revered by cultists at large.
Democracy's reached a crossroads,
a lunatic has won the race.
And holding the nuclear codes
he incites his ass-kissing base.
Categories:
enforced, 12th grade, age, anger,
Form:
Rhyme
He had an idea, a brilliant idea,
He thought it up when he was ten,
And he’d learnt this idea from looking around,
Looking at all of the men,
This small idea he enforced straight away,
To shut down part of his mind,
He pushed the emotions he wore on his sleeve,
He pushed them deep down inside,
And all of his world praised his resolve,
They’d say “You’re emotionally strong”,
Not realising he’d just ignored who he was,
And yet he was made to belong,
Until, one day, later in life,
He saw the reflection of a fraudulent fake,
Alone with a mirror in a bitter cold room,
His tears wrote he’d made a mistake.
Categories:
enforced, emotions, men,
Form:
Quatrain
American green
The tree of life gave birth to a nation and these men who helped nature
shape it. The father of our Country George Washington the 1st President.
There is Thomas Jefferson author of the Declaration of Independence.
There's ol' Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation
he enforced, and Alexander Hamilton the first Secretary of Treasury
and most famous dueler of course. What about Andrew Jackson the Indian
remover and election winner but loser, or Ulysses S. Grant victorious Union
General, boring President. Next is William McKinley Spanish-American War
winner and assassination receiver. Don't forget Grover Cleveland only man to
be elected president, then lose, then get elected again. Our third President
James Madison who fathered our Constitution and a guy named Salmon Chase
but ambition killed him. Last on this list Mr. Woodrow Wilson who brought us into
and out of World War I, that was fun...Do you yet see these men's commonality?
They are the faces of our wealth for they are all money green...
Categories:
enforced, america, money,
Form:
Free verse
Not To Be Used
Isabel Serrano Hoogsteyns
Tickling began to contour my face
Cold destroyed the water
The windmill enforced in pain
I felt powerful
Velocity, the verse of my whole body
Moving in a single direction
Follicles covered the air
There was a sour sound, like the one of metal clinging
Boom! A sudden stop
His face was a fresh grass after a long night sleep
Up and down, this flesh was his
Nonetheless, not to be used
Not to be touched
The red around them made my heart untangle
Discover the power of a single word
Except, to notice this wound was gone...
Categories:
enforced, lost, love,
Form:
Free verse