Best Ensnaring Poems
Look past
the faded little girl braids and bows
in a polaroid picture
buttery yellow skirt
curtsying a smile
frog prince
imprisoned in her palm
under a creamy pound cake sun
(her grandmother’s recipe
sugar and spice folded carefully
with love and guilt
into a thick summer sky)
daisies like polka dots
piecemeal on her bonnet
seem to stare down
her face with jaundice eyes
slanted above ensnaring weeds
swirls of sorrow linger
in knee-high field
where flowers grew wild like
freedom once felt
Look closer picture fading
She is running
legs bent shouting from the page
stockings peeled off
lanky legs running
through her pain
till her heart detaches
from a barefoot soul
She still feels spiky burs in her heels
drops of blood
zigzag numb
beyond the treeline
memories meld
love and loss
euphoric rush warm winds fuel
an urgency her creation
until lightning strikes
her grief rushing to catch up
through crushed wildflowers
fragmented patterns
under paths at her feet
tears flooded her field overgrown
She remembers to forget
Her mother
buried under
a distant willow
She was taught
by her grandmother
to be composed
poised like other girls
wad up unpleasant feelings
slip them into a corner
of the cedar chest
under layers
of afghans and quilts
she laid them to rest
long ago but
never stopped
her fidgety legs from weaving
through floral tapestries
of field and meadow
wild brush turned emerald green
in mourning
Her daddy passed away
ten years ago today
He was buried with wildflowers
tucked softly
in his lapel and praying hands
he always said windswept blooms
reminded him of his girls
If you look closely at the picture
of that faded little girl
you will see her running
from the graves
as the wildflowers crush
beneath her feet
O
the bane
of being so slavishly in love,
to face another bloodless sunrise alone.
Myself, I’m spun in silken strands enthralled
yet, still stung by the whip of your selfish whims.
Your fleeting presence flashes like iridescence in light,
an elusive rainbow whose colors escape my grasp.
I pine for possession of one I cannot possess,
my burning being’s bewitched.
This yoke of yearning pliantly possesses me;
ensnaring me in the exquisite twist
of the fervent temptations you weave -
as your amorous play strums the lusty lure
of a gossamer thread I wish to follow to your soul,
whilst my purring thirst is captured -- then ignored.
O
the woe
of being caught
in the frill of desire’s web,
aching for the thrill of arching pleasures,
craving to be melted by our molten fusion,
longing forever, wanting and waiting breathlessly
for your wanton appetite to ravish me
always and again.
Susan Ashley
July 3, 2019
N/A
Contest: 2022 Poetry Marathon Mile 4
Sponsor: Mark Toney
~ Poem Of The Day ~
July 5, 2019
~ Third Place ~
Premiere Contest: Slave To Love
Sponsor: John Hamilton
In moments of despondent spirits I turn to you,
the resplendent paradise of secret dreams anew.
The opalescent orchard orchestrates tender hopes,
like cuddling chrysanthemum my fading fear elopes.
Bursting bubbles of beguile blossoms sprinkle love,
frivolous faith nurtures nascent nest of white dove.
I find solace in sumptuous serenades through storms,
in symphony of mellowed streams, my anxiety reforms.
Intertwined petals of Cynthia and magnolia waltz,
undressing my weariness to dissolve draped faults.
Butterflies blissfully slip into alluring aurora,
a healing touch melts my heart in gleaming aura.
A sapphire gem dropped by the albatross as rain,
absorbs my tormented memories in nascent vervain.
The seeds of lavender mellows in whispers strum,
silk strings of your fir-kissed ensnaring soft hum.
How gracefully my soul dances behind velvet dew,
as Asteria and Aphrodite fuse their worlds anew.
In the vineyard of blushing lullabies in light,
my musk-soaked pages flip with snowflakes bright.
The oceans of my universe peek into a shore afar,
dripping in crevices of my sanctuary as your star.
I doze off to a euphony of embraced fingers in sleep,
this secret paradise, our eternal promise I'll keep.
August 17, 2020
Sanctuary Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Silent One
~Winner: 1st Place
Poetry will not keep you warm
Not like a cat nestled between legs
But, it hunts down manic thoughts
Gnashes the static till the mind gives
Chases a thought till claws are bloody
Keeps you drenched in sweat
Yes, she mews for attention
Till its cries grate every nerve
Till I feed it words & want
Poetry keeps me squirming
Caught in a net skimming a deluge
Waiting for words to be hauled
The big catch ever escaping
Keeps me checking the line
Insisting I jump into cold waters
Foolishly like Ahab chasing a tail
Sadness is my white whale
Mad with promises holey
Poetry is a leaky bucket
Catching the rain of words
Within depression's storm
Coming like a cat with a pail
Impossible and torrential
Ensnaring me for an hour
Keeps me back for seconds
Promising an easy catch
Cold and slippery
Getting lost in the wake of a beauty so exotic
Warm balmy night promises speak from her beckoning eyes
Ensnaring themselves in a web of sultry desire
As heady perfume of white jasmine permeates night skies
Playing the leading lady the Oscar is always hers
Perfect crimson lips set in porcelain skin perfection
Hypnotic blue eyes seduce bringing them down to their knees
Mere shadows of themselves left in its luminous reflection
Entrapped by shadows - A lady of chastity she is not
Embracing dusk welcomes her in it's ever watchful sight
She the mysterious mistress that women love to hate
Forbidden fruit for their men - She is the Lady of the Night
The highest bidder always wins her - she cares not who
Seductive and sultry or sweetly naïve and innocent
She plays the game well - whatever the gentleman fancies
To gifts of extravagance offered - she is indifferent
But when the games are done and she's alone in her chambers
For the one who stole her heart she sends out a lonely cry
Even though she has everything money can possibly buy
Her love is not for sale
It belongs only to the one who took it away
And bid her goodbye
Music Video - Memoirs of a Geisha - Sayuri's Theme FULL
'The Memoirs of a Geisha' Official Soundtrack featured Yo Yo Ma performing the cello solos, as well as Itzhak Perlman performing the violin solos. The music was composed and conducted by John Williams. Published on Nov 22, 2009
In the orchard of opalescence
magnificent myriads of mellows
fervently flow in fountains
breathing beguile blossoms
a forgotten fable ferments,
in haunting hollows I hear.
My heart is a restless garden
with varying pulses of penumbra
conflicts caressing cuddles
tenacious tattered thorns
singing to sumptuous serenades
where brisking bubbles burst
butterflies spread beautiful wings
bees buzzing like ballerinas
to ballads in pirouettes--
a symphony calms my anxieties
descending from azure skies
but my vineyard wilts in agony.
A bird drops a seed of hope
from a foreign land in my orchard
sprouting to strive in storms
emanating exotic effervescence
ballerinas pause their buzz
butterflies flee in fear
serenades slip in streams
out casting the stranger seed.
I touch the seed with curiosity
blissfully in my meadow
melancholy melts to melodies
auspicious aurora allures
tender bud in lavender hues
drenching my dulcet dreams
in showers of chrysanthemum whispers
draping my fears at dusk
embrace my weariness with love
Is this what I'd been awaiting
a stranger I've always known
Aphrodite in lilac curtains
blushes to unfurl the petals
my fingers touch her musings
her fragrance blooms my orchard
ensnaring my sapphire senses
sparkling in emerald dew drops
I plant her beside my window
she's my fable of felicity
vineyard reviving to life
as tendrils ascend to witness
her velvet lullabies
"Sleep my love
another garden awaits me"
July 30, 2020
Petal, buds, blossoms, bees, birds, butterflies! Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Silent One
~Winner: 1st Place
I was set in my ways
Downed café au-laits
In a den of privacy.
Though pain from a jilt
Still throbbed to the hilt
A regrettable history.
With no delusions
Of future effusions
I cherished my liberty.
And tried to avoid
With every fibroid
That lost road to misery.
Yet a sneaky charmer
Found cracks in my armor
Ensnaring me unwary.
It was only a glance
A pure happen-stance
No intentionality.
But a sound like a crack
That I can’t take back
A fated futility.
Made me squeal out loud
When if from a cloud
A bolt of liking struck me.
With no more deterrent
This ardent current
Put glee in my fantasy.
At the speed of light
Our romance took flight
In ionic felicity.
Dare one impose upon the primitive soul,
Revolving around solitude—a savant hold warmer than the sun
Entranced by every ideal—loving many and no one
Would they hesitate to break the sensational sway…
As petals of tiger lilies fall upon its sunset eyes
Tremulous sighs and exhalations—dedicated to wisdom
Looking to the sky…a vast wilderness of celestial light
Fixated in the center of star-drafted darkness
The wheel of its heart turns smoothly
Oiled with only the finest knowledge
With brutal truths seeping into the empty spaces
Not even the most charming can break its stance
Feeble smiles melt away into frustrated admiration
For not one could dare embark upon her spirit
Without looking first deep within himself
Tearing apart the pride that so recklessly razes
Ensnaring all that behold him
All but one
Had one selflessly walked into the midst of this fraction of heaven,
He would watch faithfully a sunrise on the legs of endurance
And the embracing, smiling arms of patience
If one only left their guard for the Sanctuary of Obscurity
The skies of white light upon dark would open in reverence
The lips that are so fixated upon moist discovery
Would have their gentle hold on mortal purity
To allow such a moment to exist,
Kindheartedness must coexist
And hovering humility harnessed deep in vicious sincerity
Thoust message rings,
But it is a wretched beauty.
Sew up thine tongue;
It forks in many directions,
Ensnaring, passing through the centers,
Weaving a thread gleaming, deceivingly white,
Yet drenched in the black goo,
The sticky gobs of our source, our blood.
Cast aside thine needle,
Let time make it blunt.
Wallow in thine sorrow,
But only for a moment.
Up, up with you!
The sticky gobs cannot protect thee.
See me, Hear me.
For I see thee...
Thou hast split thine tongue
To hide, to forget.
Thine forked words, black to all, clear to me.
Go on, go ahead,
Walk through its enveloping black.
And when you cannot run,
Crawl.
And when you can’t do that anymore,
Find someone to carry you.
Thou art strong!
Let thine center give you new feet!
Yet,
If even thine center falls weary,
I shalt be thine legs.
I shalt carry you, my friend.
Vanishing vestige of dank cavernous lobes
My lonesome forsaken heart adrift
Under the most alluring midnight crescent moon
Towards a horizon yonder daubed with
A loaded paintbrush of golden luminescence
While levitating melodic whispers
Of charm and sorcery perchance connive
Mingling heavenward to set the stage
For a divine encounter with a goddess
Her wafting cloud ever so sublimely hovers
Peculiarly fine exotic spicy fragrance
Ensnaring my compliant heart
By glorious happenstance
Spellbound and mesmerized
Flutters on the wings of dusk
Reawakening a drowsing lust
Rekindling and resuscitating the passion
To a sublime apogee of celestial folly
AP: Honorable Mention 2020
Submitted on January 18, 2019 for contest EIGHT WORD CHALLENGE-BARDENESQUE sponsored by JOHN HAMILTON - RANKED 1ST
Blithe fools traipsing through bleary hollow
Airy sprites in hovering tents shadow
Brooding sylvan fringe shrouding light with her swaying willow
Jaded beams peep through the crenelated steeple's window
Sprouting thickets bristling with spiny tendrils each step harrow
Creepy vermin frenetically scurry under foot from burrow to
burrow
A musty dampness shivers intruders; beneath feet liken's slimy
residual doth grow
Whistling winds hauntingly whisper a doleful strain
Ominous portent overhead; hoot owls continuously bleet their eerie
refrain
Perilous pitfalls surround; ensnaring cracks, crevices unwitting lives
drain
Poisonous foliage ensconses the beaten path distilled with its
potion of pain
Jagged course nearly run; wayfarers enlightened by each
cumbersome travail
Weary itinerants seasoned on nature's, menacing plain
Pensively treading the last mile over the rough, foreboding terrain
It is good to be a fool once in a while,
What an extraordinary feeling to be a fool!
To know nothing,
To know everything,
Yet not convincing your heart—The most brilliant buffoon,
Letting your heart float like a boat
Without an anchor
In the middle of a lake illuminated by the half moon that looks like a piece fallen from something ethereal,
Vision yourself in that boat, dear reader,
Doing nothing but just letting that moon’s love
Lurk on your lips
While you yearn earnestly
With your eyes closed like the petals of a timid lotus,
I encourage you to be a fool with me.
The river of reverie might reduce the roughness of abrasive reality of existence,
The vastness,
The long blank whiteness of life—
The 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s
Of age are indeed agitating,
Colorless at times,
There are rainbows too,
But mostly it's white, serene and quite like a pearl or a marble.
Some people ensnare their hearts,
They think heart is some petty prisoner,
But when the boon of life comes to an end
The truth hits them in the chest
And the chains ensnaring the heart
Come gushing down with a roar like a waterfall,
Sudden and loud.
Chained hearts often become hoarse hazards,
Chained and always chasing,
But chasing what
You never know.
Heart is a bird,
A brave one
Like all birds,
But let me remind you something, dear reader,
Do you ever notice the birds looking at the sky and singing soft melodies,
The melodies they don't sing when they are soaring high in the sky?
Birds need a bower too to rest and rejuvenate,
They don't have to adorn an armour on their chiselled chest all the time,
It's just not natural,
It doesn't seem right,
So take my hand and come be a fool with me
Or just be a bird and fly freely.
Your soul is nesting your heart,
Let down the gloomy guard,
Nurture the nest
And give it a rest.
your eyes with dense black lashes
casting colors of sapphire
wet with ensnaring passion
hook me beyond flight.
Inspired by The Tree Of Life by Gustav Klimt
Life seeks stillness at the root,
craving unfolds lattice of creeping flare.
Two figures lean on the glimmer,
her eyes transfixed in chasm, his petrified,
their silence, a still violin chord
held between the creation and the end.
The tree is the bridge for them,
an aureate whisper in the emptiness,
ensnaring their world in a dream.
The void gleams with potential,
where love gilded by eternity
waits to become a memory.
In the maze captured on the canvas
life is spun from bronze boughs
where past and future entangle
within a frail frame of mistake,
but spring air drips love on leaves,
in the tree of life flowers bloom again.
A design of the human soul
weaved from golden leaf of silent yearning,
upright as a glittering bridge
between the earth we stride
and the mysteries we cannot measure
in a non-linear journey of experience.
The branches do not grow straight,
they coil on themselves in golden twists.
Perched quietly on the radiant boughs
a solitary black bird sits as a shadow
in the forest of gold -
the quiet memento of our mortality.
A mirror of the cosmos
reflects our roots in the dark soil,
yet we’re ordained to be alchemists,
make our own gold,
as we reach for the stars.
The swirls of freedom’s fervent dreams
On canvas raised in bitter cold
Upon oppression’s wall of screams
A city severed at its seams
Gleaned comfort in art’s bright console
The swirls of freedom’s fervent dreams
Beyond the walls, a feared regime
With liberty, in stern control
Upon oppression’s wall of screams
The inside; vibrant colors gleam
Expressions brushed of angst, unfold
The swirls of freedom’s fervent dreams
The gray outside; true evil’s scheme
With barbs of wire ensnaring souls
Upon oppression’s wall of screams
A palisade of painted streams
Immersed in thought – cascading bold
The swirls of freedom’s fervent dreams
Upon oppression’s wall of screams
~~16 Mar 2016~~
Note –During the later stages of the cold war, the West Berlin
side of the Berlin Wall was an unrestricted outlet for graffiti
artists to express the freedom absent on the other side.