Best Etches Poems
The cold hand of Winter swiftly approaches
Its breath etches frost on my windowpanes
Nearer my threshold, Death now encroaches
Blood is slowly chilling inside my frail veins
Reaper's wild winds pelts hail on my roof
His breath etches frost on my windowpanes
Snowdrifts climb higher on the sills in reproof
Huddled in a corner, my fear is spurred
Reaper's wild winds pelts hail on my roof
This room is the chamber where I'll be interred
On the threshold of madness, I'm losing grip
Huddled in a corner, my fear is spurred
Winter's hand has caused a temperature dip
I flinch at the sound of a knock on my door
On the threshold of madness, I'm losing grip
Terror incites me to curse what I abhor
The cold hand of Winter swiftly approaches
I flinch at the sound of a knock on my door
Nearer my threshold, Death now encroaches
August 17, 2017
Categories:
etches, death, fear,
Form:
Terzanelle
I must have encountered her on a hill,
Where scatterings of ferns deepened
Through insolent winds that shivered
While watching her carry a basket of daisies…
She is Loveliness, forlorn in a drowsy pathway,
More forlorn than languid endings
Or all that death can ever reach.
By trying to alienate myself from this image
A weariness brushed on a Dresden face so pale
That the luster in her eyes became stardust ,
While I designed a self-tumbling act as a ploy
To gaze at her closer , oh one divine mystery.
Just there, etches of beauty flatter her hair,
Like a dream capricious as twilight leaving
And in her almond eyes, the moon-flakes glimmer
How by chance, this silhouette found me breathless,
That I did gravitate through her bloom, weakening--
She, an air between death and forever… Loveliness on a hill.
'2019 Poetry Marathon Mile 5' Contest for Mark Toney
Re-submitted 12/18/2018
Categories:
etches, beauty, mystery,
Form:
Free verse
The harvest moon appears behind the hill
In purest enchantment like so foretold,
As her radiant tassels glimmer still
Like embroidered lace of russet and gold.
From whispering of the ambient breeze,
A nightscape etches autumn’s moss and fir
Through lucent bowers of glorious trees;
Where dragonflies and owls reel on, astir.
How bold the prism of a cycle’s ray
While September’s moonrise adorns the earth;
Igniting bright pageantry on display
With holy graces from nature’s rebirth.
Till majesty of lit sparkle descends;
And once more evenings’ ceremony ends.
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For John Hamilton's Your best rhyming poem-2
Posted 8.28.2016 Resubmitted 2.3.2017
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Sonnet Form checked through
www.howmanysyllables.com
Categories:
etches, blessing, moon,
Form:
Sonnet
Brocade frame with silver etches
creating a past's mystery
slices of life it refreshes,
against chilled dusk's pure scenery.
Will wonder's eyes engage and see
the beauty of a fallen leaf
whose precious moment shines too swift?
Or, will it, fading, simply crush
this brittle lace from autumn’s gift
beneath the pile of burial rush.
Contest of Giorgio V: Impress Me ll
by nette onclaud
Categories:
etches, autumn, nature,
Form:
Dizain
Hands
mixing
neutral shades
as brushstrokes form
etches of life’s vignettes in washed-out tones,
Reflecting grim shadows doused by night’s ash
Where black white hints
Trail along
Fingers
Stained.
Grief
In oil
Expressing
Artist's lament
Through paint of tears which words cannot portray.
tetractys 1st place
Contest NO 85 for Briand Strand
Categories:
etches, art,
Form:
Tetractys
Aimlessly wander veiled memories of yore
Each passing cloud subtly brings to fore
Recalling regrets, where laments agonize,
Thinking of you, searching forsaken skies,
Muting spent emotions of anguished eyes.
O how we rejoiced in blissful sunny days
When dawns arose on glinted arc ablaze
As golden beams pierced shrouded haze
Defying onslaught of darkened malaise
Intent on blotting zealous romantic phase.
Recalling ardent dreams with you I stroll
Where gleam of your smile brightens soul
As allure of amorous past feelings cajole
Emanating from desires heartbeats extol
In language of passion yesteryears scroll.
Every cloud etches effigy of love gone awry
Yet, thunder of stygian vibes fiercely I defy,
For return of clear skies in your longing I vie
Denouncing certitude hosting forlorn sigh,
Remorseful of ego that callously bid goodbye.
March 8, 2023
Placed 1st: Each Passing Cloud Poetry Contest
Sponsor: JCB Brul
Categories:
etches, grief, lost love, memory,
Form:
Rhyme
Written: March 31st, 2025, for contest, Sponsored by: Kai Michael Neumann
************
After basking in yesterday's afterglow,
I divested my vestments
to shift in cognitive mindset.
I stroll toward the horizon.
where the azure sky
embraces the vast sea blue.
Waves dance.
With silvered clouds,
Creating an orchestra
The wind and light are present.
Sallow shadows scintillate.
In Moonlight Melodies...
As dusk settles,
casting a shimmering awe that echoes of
The splendor of the galaxies abounds.
In every breath,
A promise resonates,
to the dawn
that dwells within me.
Gliding on golden wings
a sovereign among the kings
As light swirls beneath the Milky Way,
The cosmos shines brilliantly.
In a pearly gown.
Angels slide,
Unleashing their power
to restore their lost throne.
With flickering wings,
Wield the sword of stone
their footsteps inscribe
a path of golden light,
As they conquer the onyx depths
of an obsidian night.
Loving blasts their souls.
angel wings shake in sadness,
where grief and despair are hefty,
seeking an aerial citrine nirvana
I recall it sharply,
as if it were yesterday,
Tears mar the silky pillows.
as honeysuckle
It oozes from eager lips. —
There is a longing for satisfaction.
Lipstick etches its mark.
He left an imprint on his bare skin.
Even now, those intertwined chains
of Memory ensnares me.,
As well-oiled fingers traverse
the curves of the sensuous body,
ordinary yet glowing in the sunlight,
filled with a relentless passion.
Nervous tension shattered,
striking, akin to a diamond on ebony velvet.
As her body warmed and became silky,
Her lips melted and tasted delicious.
They expressed love ardently.
and hugged fervently.
swept up in passion and longing,
wishing the moment might last forever,
cocooned in each other's arms,
and felt blissfully pleased,
Polishing words into gems,
dusted garnet, with sunset slips
In citrine clouds cast
There was a ray of magenta skies.
I wish for unending delight.
and utter bliss in the afterglow.
Categories:
etches, analogy, beauty,
Form:
Free verse
20 lines, 10 syllables in each line
Playful is the seed nurtured in freedom
Brave is the fresh bud learning to explore
Wise is the flower blooming exotic
Perfectly flawed in God's heavenly eyes
Salt etches destiny dipped in love's dew
Written in deep feminine fragrance ink
Fondly thinking fruit of selfless passion
In the nicest and most loving warm way
Butterflies begin the dance inside joy
Each and every pulse propagating life
Listening to the heart skipping flutters
Regal beauty before these eyes jewels
Emotions kiss you are the breeze above
Blowing upon these sails moving forward
I am singing second heartbeat as you
Sharing visions of our divine future
Raising hope beneath surface of darkness
Wonderful lady onto you light shines
Courage filtering through chaotic thoughts
Your instinct is the blanket giving warmth
Co-written with Liam McDaid
Copyright 2016
Categories:
etches, beautiful, beauty, women,
Form:
Free verse
accidental boundaries crush despair easily, fragrant gravity heckles ignorance judiciously.
kindness levitates mindless numerology, overt principles qualm ridiculous sexualities.
transgressions uproot vindictive whippings. xanadu yields zero.
zoology yields xanax. whirls voice underground terrorism, syntax resonates quintessentially.
pragmatic oddities nosedive murderously. leperous kindergartens jumble idiosyncratic
hellholes. gyrating fondness etches disdain carefully. bespectacled academics.
Categories:
etches, visionary
Form:
ABC
YES !
Written in my palms
Within the plasma tempest of my cellular flow
Courses in the pulmonary oxygen
The direction linear fate
Souls writing indicates
Always through pass of time
Reverberates
My breathing in
Links my hands
Physical over mental
Pours consistent
Suffused empire shudders
Tangible still earthquakes
On a single point
Of longing
Yearning
It filters me
Through the hours
Designs my wishes
Sleeping naked
In a diaphragms rising
Lake of want
Each morning in helpless moans
At this state
The continent
The ocean
Of my empty arms
Emptying this need in me
Fills me more
Than any love
I have ever
Known
Re-born
I hanker in swelling desire
Even lust exhales
Its animal fire
And swims in the sails
Expressive
Storm wracked and howling
As I sit motionless
In this envelope
Of aching final
Suspended
In what it means
To be
To me
Completely
Powered by an undeniable
The force surge
Inscribes
Etches
Ensnares
And capitulates
To recognition
Without resistance
Builds a formulation of my destiny
Written in my palms
Within the plasma tempest
Of my cellular flow
The thunderclap
Resounds from above
YES !
I am in love
( And I weep
And I laugh
Each morning in helpless moans
At this state
The continent
The ocean
Of my empty arms )
Categories:
etches, lovemorning,
Form:
Free verse
The road
It stretches out before me,
the yellow center line
holding my attention.
It tells me that humankind has tried
and made its mark known and imprinted here.
But from the woods, the trees stretch their trunks angling across the tarmac,
A canopy of leaves umbrella across the lanes
dropping leaves upon the blackness,
The colors blend the black macadam
into reds and yellows and greens.
The sun etches streams thru the branches down to the lines
and flows around the bends.
the road disappears and nature reclaims its place
If only for the moment, the world is clean and pure again,
alive with living and life.
Squirrels and birds clatter in the trees and brush,
running and racing thru the leaves.
A truck rumbles in the distance.
Everything suddenly scatters
and man leaves his mark
yet again.
Categories:
etches, humanity, nature,
Form:
Free verse
it glistens …
can you see?
do you see that little drop -
the tiny streak that
writes your name upon my visage -
that etches it’s damp and
dour reality onto what the mirror
shines back at me each day?
do you grasp all the
wonder and regret that floats there?
do you know the dazzling eyes
represented there as
I know them?
of a green more emerald
than olive - shocked with bolts of
gold, and glimmering
like the sun on the
spires of Oz …
oh, the limitless moments
I have bartered plunging their
dark mysteries -
swimming their exquisite madness
joined to their dreams and
yearnings and crazy, callow craves …
such a wee drip
there, a-cheek -
diminutive and inconsequential
a tiny, briny bead of
ocular insignificance, yet it roils with
the sad sobs of my marrow
and holds the
wonders and wilds of my spirit …
the ache of my
squandered passions ply
its deepest limits
swirling with an id, misunderstood,
and a life of chaotic endeavors
and endless imaginings ...
how many such beads of moisture
have trickled there
for your sake -
dropping to careless insignificance
on a cold surface below?
an ocean could not
hold all the wasted weep
that has dangled there without
name or number
and held the empty promise
of your cares …
the priceless validation of mortality
the crushing agony of deliverance
the haunting terror
of indifference and lack
the sublime sorrows
of sweet passions given to a lie
the awkward fear of a
gift in absence
the sacred apprehension of a hope, held
the wondrous horror that true
love may yet be real
the divine grief that it may NOT be
every minute, moment and mind
each elegant instance and iteration
every tender toil and
touch and temperament
swims to substance there in that drop
and is the liquid legitimacy of
all that I have been and ever shall be
yet all it is to YOU
is an answer …
and one more shining, shimmering
bleakly blessed place for
you to find …
your reflection.
Categories:
etches, analogy, relationship,
Form:
Free verse
Winding, shadowy etches
come whispering at my window
Night whispers, the whimper
of the wind
Blow blue - wailing as you go
Crawl inside an empty paper bag
and play me tunes of the moors
Give me lonesome tonight
Hollow dirges tonight
Reality is the whisper of grass
on a back fence, and the crying
of an empty swing
Some shred caught in a car door
struggles to twist free
with a slap and tug and creak
Whisper me lies and benedictions
I cannot bear the truth
Categories:
etches, wind, writing,
Form:
Blank verse
The splayed light of an obliging red sunset
lays upon the darkening meadow
of windswept grass
Slow-moving fingers in a visible dance
wrap in quiet space
when moonlight silhouettes our hands as they bond
A falling star etches the night sky
burning its canvas like a struck match
vanishing as quickly as it came
The rush of life abates to a small distance
so we can free ourselves from outgrown nests
to float like doves on tender breezes
until we can fly when love is found
to lift the subtle wings of our souls
7/14/19
Categories:
etches, love,
Form:
Free verse
The designer time created a landscape for me,
carving deep ravines, lofty hills, desert dunes
that I had crossed in the ordained journey long
under the shimmer of the blazing summer sun,
across strong surge of slashing thunder storm,
through the opaque mist of the silent winter,
along the tinged garden path of fragrant spring,
far from destination unknown.
Floating like a butterfly
in the ambient air of the twilight gleam I had seen
the hollow horizon filled with fading sunset colors
as from the slate sky the creeping night’s shadow
fell like shower of gloom from melted cloud of pain.
The grains of deepening shades of grey descended
wrapping the vanishing trail of the departing day,
in twilight hour the path invisible.
In moonless dense night
in the dark sky I see the steadfast pole star shine,
its slender beam etches a lighted course for me
across the uncharted and desolate terrain of time.
My life walks me with dreams on the weary eyes
to reach all unseen corners of this beautiful world,
to see crimson sun raise again the dawn, I wait
at the edge of night uncertain.
August 23, 2020
Contest : Strand Completely New (26), Any Theme, Any Form
Sponsor : Brian Strand
Categories:
etches, analogy, inspirational, life, metaphor,
Form:
Free verse