Best Exhalation Poems
A body abandoned
needs to mourns its last breath in death
a heart cast aside
still aches to meet its last beat
and a free spirit yearns for a winged monarch moment
to fly in the spirit of freedom…
opportunity
flares a tongue
snaky and bittersweet.. a flicker
grows flames that twist passion’s kiss with kismet
a chance
to escape on a breath of air
an exhalation;
warm incense offered to vesper -
the wish of a scent to slip through the keyhole
above the hiss of heat
and gasps of air
rushing combustion to a roar
airy mystics spoke in the eerie smoke
w h i s p e r s
urge the purge of perishable pain
unclasping lonely-linger’s grasping fingers
soft-spun knit and purl unravels
as vintage yarn twined with sun and rain unties -
aging rays fail to stave Winter’s grays
and the ethereal thread of an earthly creation
releases its tendril
from the spinning wheel’s weave of circular seasons
from seed to harvest and warmth to chill
vestiges of sisterly hands cup a ceded sigh
chrysalis celebrates destined to re-emerge a butterfly
terminal tremble of a twilight trill is hushed
vulnerability swaddled
cradled by clouds of silver and gold
a mortal’s surrender consummates upon the pyre -
cinders cleansed of tears and cries and vices
but never the dreamy intrinsic colors
of the opal’s unfurling blaze
she ascends
a flash of embers relieved of ash
taking fire to the skies with a tigress torch igniting
molten pools spooning the spine of the western shadow
heralding an awakened afterglow to the afterlife -
lamplight gilds mare’s tails hooking heavens
pathways adrift from the burning thurible
of a trinity on the cusp of rebirth...
incense rises upon a heated atmosphere
riding the riddle of the four winds
beyond realms of soil and salt - reason and logic
yonder the profound truth of the-not-humanly-known
seeing past reflections within mere margins of a mind’s mirror
accepting the enlightening throb of the enigmatic pulse of creation
becoming one with the ultimate mystery
the wish of a scent to slip through the keyhole
fulfilled with exchange of gifts -
the offering of her sunset shroud
for the white mantle of sunrise
Categories:
exhalation, angel, beauty, butterfly, death,
Form:
Free verse
Footsteps
Footsteps
On the ground…..
Lightly
Stepping
Without a sound…..
Tears are
Falling
As oceans sigh…..
The sun is
Descending
In her eyes…
The waters stretched their surrounding arms
Caressing her precious prints with their saline charms
Smoothing her past—an exhalation at last
As legacy lavishes the flight of her path
Withering and draining, absorbed in the sand
Are the tears she once shed—no longer does she stand
In kneeled acceptance her deep pulse unwinds
As her melodious voice falters in the plague that binds
In her serenest solitude have I kept her close
As those streams do crash upon my heart-burdened coast
I listened to her sing—as the sickness rose
Like the tide’s sudden descent, oh how life suddenly goes!
Footsteps
Footsteps
Heavy now……….
Carry her
To bury her
In the ground……….
Oceans
In motions
WAVES//COLLIDE
…..Someone beautiful…..
…..…..now has died……….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Categories:
exhalation, beauty, death, devotion, earth,
Form:
Ballad
When visions, discoveries burn my soul
that which pours out of me is something forceful,
maybe CHASTE. Although it's hard for many to embrace
ideas on an unconventional level... I still knead my fingers
on paper where the language of my voice chants
or hollers wildly--these hands grasping my teacup.
Morning wakes and I get lost in drained phrases,
a blueprint of journeys imagined...they are only words,
vacant lines about nature, anguish, even love...
Yet here is life in poetry which rises above
what is expected. And I blaze unknown trails
when moonshine grants me the favor of raking this navel
and speak from a space that marks my integrity.
I believe that weaving a story is my endowment
to echoing dreams needing full exhalation;
to untold traumas masked by social graces...
more so, to all innocent wiles, tastes, fragrances
borne out of my will to convey the unusual,
deserted remembrances , where a universe
of people meets in serendipitious places--
those ardent moments defining man as a divine human.
Only then would my oolong tea blow cold,
and my moving poetry become vulnerably warm.
```*```
10/16/2020
Beth Evans' A Duty of Poetry Contest
Categories:
exhalation, devotion, passion, writing,
Form:
Dramatic Monologue
Ursus Maritimus ...
I entered your world in quietude, slipping through the granular, soft.
Long slats to feet parting the frozen. Cold of a previously unknown
Extreme, nipping, sharp, the epidermis with ardor. A Mid-May akin to
February, homeward, first warning of extrinsic ire, ignored. Hours of
Similar (sobering) revelations ensued, supplanted by days, weeks,
Moons ... reality - icebound and born of abiding trial. The basic
Elements staggering, swallowed by the providence around me. A
Vastness beyond vast, afar ... crushing cold of limitless value, each
Sunrise a new contingency for measure of my insignificance. How I
Adored you for your beauty - such reward for the naked eye, there
Amidst a denuded struggle. Shaped by eons of selection into a
Creation of perfect form and ease, as at home with desolation as
I at a warm hearth and aliment. Moving sprite through your environs,
All senses attuned to the mind's axis ... at once knowing and known,
Master of a savage domain. Every dynamism a fluid dance, every
Steamed puff of exhalation a waif of delicacy, bespoken. Do not the
Gods aspire to such? If there were deities afforded such barren and
Bleak scapes, it would be none other than you - as exquisitely
Magnificent and divine as the forbidding but breathtaking element
Around you, my brother. Yet, I fear I have doomed you, for others
Will now follow ... others who find no such elegance in anything
But graft and greed. By the simple act of watching I may have
Sealed your fate, firm and grim. So, I will not turn to admire you
As I leave ... but rather keep you forever as a phantom in my mind
And heart and longings - to let you devour my spirit and join with
You, ever after straining to hear the echo of your lonely, distant
Growl, the one that so often haunts my thoughts and meanderings,
Dark and cold in the arctic night, dark and cold in the willows ...
Deep and frozen and dreaming, of your gleaming and breathless
Beauty. If but mine to touch ... to know. Forgive me and farewell ...
Brother Bear.
Categories:
exhalation, animal, appreciation, beauty, nature,
Form:
Free verse
A confession
bursts from your full lips
Almost against your will:
“I’m hungry ….
I'm hungry for you.”
I speak in seductive smile soliloquy.
My cherry glossed lips pa rt,
gushing out this succulent response:
“Come, my hungry boy.
Come and eat.
From appetizer to desert
Gluttony’s Creed is freed in me
Take time to t~a~s~t~e
From chocolate tips to cherry smear,
your taste palette I’ll tease
with full bodied, full course meal
Thirsty in--be--tween--needs
~~~~I’ll drench quench~~~~
from my blessed abundant flow
take it nice and slow as you go
Come, come and indulge
another dish to relish
My love menu
creations just for you
Just the right spice
Of naughty and nice
Satiation Celebration awaits
But now...
Eat..... s, l, oOoOoOo w, l, y
Don’t waste in haste…
These moments so ^u*n^ chaste
There you go, baby boy
satisfaction exhalation
Now, come
Let me clean~~you~~up
Time to sleep
Here is my chest
plush pillow rest
I’m here
Sleep...sleep
Hunger will not haunt your dreams
Ah...
Contented sigh
Closed eyes
and here am I
Watching over you as you sleep
Insatiable the hunger for you
In my *eye*
Eileen Manassian
Categories:
exhalation, relationship, sensual, sexy,
Form:
Free verse
Galloping within the nights of her innocence
he raced around the field fire chasing the heat of equine glee,
the horn of his head, a wizard's weapon and a witch's wish
with which a poison may be whimpered and youth enriched with longer laugh,
rose gold gilding on the supernatural spike ribboned with ribs of silver spells,
sensing the magic of her intuitive love the beast of God's bridge halts,
her eyes pretty in patient approach, his alert with admiring admonition,
they tresspass upon each other by exhalation of warm airy awe
whirling from their mouths, measuring the elation of frienship newly carved,
although invited to mount, the Maiden rubs her chin along his velvet nose,
fingers glide through the mane like breeze through willow branches, he huffs from joy,
in a gesture of supplication she kneels to the Unicorn's lead leg, one arm around
and a hand of healing pressed against his ripened chest, be restless and alone no more,
nibbling her ear in acceptence she giggles at the thought of adventure's anxiety,
leaping like an angel possessed with purpose for playful liaisons,
his back forming a saddle of supple security for her healthy frame, they join naturally,
she names him Azyerbel and he rears in rejoice at the grip of her knees,
riding into hinterlands of history unborn, they share courage known only to legends -
J.A.B. written in honor of, and for PD.'s Unicorn Birthday Contest 2012 -
Happy Birthday my Sphinx -
Categories:
exhalation, fantasy, birthday,
Form:
Epic
Inhaled at the age of innocence,
with a breath that lies between stars,
with immortal depths that have no
ending as my lungs forever expand,
Exhalation has become unachievable,
due to the obstruction of faith
of a boy for his very first dream,
Chest heaving as a heart aches,
Is love a tree or the deepest ocean?
My breath or my reason for holding?
The questions unanswered since the
dawn of man and emotion alike,
Thus the bittersweet conclusion
appears that love equals the two,
Yet how does such beauty create
a pain that suffers from insomnia?
Expendable only to a few torn souls
who have breathed the sweet intoxication
of love, and caressed the linger of its enticing
aroma, and suffered the sting of its departure,
Leaving hearts which cannot withstand the
agony, to exhale affection for everything in
its entirety, crushing the hope of such youths,
yet this warning takes nothing from its appeal,
For to breathe love, is to touch enchantment,
As romance itself in but a breathe shared
between two spirits rewarded for persistence,
With the risk of being proven fallible,
which leads to tears and pain entwined,
Must we not embrace the risk as reward?
For those as myself, who answered "no"
are condemned to the most fragile breathing,
For each breath hurts like the last
One love, one lost, one breath in all,
Breathing her in as if she has become
the last breath of oxygen in my life,
For she has, she has become my only,
due to a choice made for the perfect love,
Yet my painful irony has become, breathing
and loving, with each one, keeping
the agony of the other alive forever
Categories:
exhalation, girlfriend-boyfriend, introspection, loss, lost
Form:
Free verse
Forgotten you
As your mind collects the memories of yesterday
Forgotten You
Epiphanies tie into knotty strings of realization
That very moment. . .
You merely exist
Back then. . .those smiles
Those. . .distant laughs
Some you remember by name
Gone now maybe
Like the exhalation of the wind
Others dispersed in the world of arbitrary happening
Like leaves from falling, man-made trees
There is no doubt that they have
Forgotten you
Activate the bomb
Ignite the fuse
And you’re on next year’s history book
Never forgotten
But drained of all remaining good
That smile you gave
That happiness
The warm embrace so long ago
Salt-coated with piles of rubbish
Over last remaining mental spurts of comfort
Evil, evil, evil, evil, EVIL. . .
Always absorbed and remembered
. . .though never forgiven. . .
All good and gracious sentiments
Packed up in a box set nonchalantly in Downstair’s storage
. . .that chair with the broken leg in the corner of the room
That mangled cobweb holding a dangling, lifeless spider
A drowned sailor’s hat drifting through the current of the ocean
The single tear from a soldier’s vigilant, memory-stricken eye
The frustrating thoughts of a mute
The unchanged. . .HATED deformations
Forgotten you. . .
One soul brings to light weary, unthought-of happenings
Wedged deep into what she can only imagine
With not even a hint of understanding
. . .of the pain. . . .of the bewildering distortions
Of the ugly. . .
One soul merely vomits sickly verse after verse
As humanity embraces its downfall
The poet hangs onto her unjustifiable, forgotten. . .
Words
Categories:
exhalation, absence, abuse, adventure, age,
Form:
Free verse
My heavy heart ever sighs for you
A syrupy silent smile, awaiting every move
Eyes nomadic, setting like a sunset on the edge of mars
Gazing… as if to focus on the rarest star
There is a sweetness that I crave to taste
A wild, foreign but trusting terrain
Feverish fingertips padding gently on rippling arms
Stroking the soft ancient bark of driving charms
Cape Horn’s stormy seas await our return
Crash your mind on my lands so lost, so burned
As flames lick my tear-blemished blood
The hot winds of fervor rattle my bones to mud
Keep your eyes set on the edge of the red dunes
Of which the mighty tempest runs free from doom
Into the lungs of pending exhalation,
You rest ever upon my endearing obsession
Categories:
exhalation, deep, heart, journey, love,
Form:
Rhyme
The oyster's shell of succulent dawn
Burst open a suppressed exhalation yawn.
They had waited on the beach
To see the amber sunshine reach,
Huddled beneath a blanket each.
In their nude feet they walked.
They kept silent, with hands locked.
Darken clouds nudge intruding
leaving the day brooding.
Sweet brine whiff encouraged, as they listen.
Falling gracefully rain glisten.
A smile pulled at both their lips
Beneath umbrella they shared rain nips.
Rain resonating deep into the ocean,
Sand, and the lover's soul emotion.
11/10/2022
Inspiring Rainy Days Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Sotto Poet
Categories:
exhalation, feelings, morning, sea,
Form:
Rhyme
At times we’re forced to grin and bare it,
but then again if the shoe fits, wear it—Quote by poet
Inhalation/Exhalation
Breathe in, arms above my head, a salutation to the sun
breathe out, and Namaste` and blessings to everyone
Kalidasa’s prayer, “Please subdue the anguish of your soul,
nobody is destined to only happiness or to pain,
the wheel of life takes one up and down in turn”
Why then do I still feel like screaming into the void?
It’s always something else which has me annoyed
Coaxing adherents into haters then blithely cleansing one’s hands,
so lost loyal allies fall prey to their shepherds demands
My evil muse is not amused
Categories:
exhalation, analogy, anti bullying, anxiety,
Form:
Free verse
Poetry is breathing out
graces of the heart;
for unlike other writing,
such exhalation
transcends words:
whether scented with sulfur
or mint de jour
poetry is the soul’s lure
dangling immortality--
We are tempted to the brink;
whether dreadful fall
or bottomless sink
next step is uncontrollable:
rhyme with time
or proses with glows,
the shell broken
serpents and birds alike
released—poetry a feast
of both our demons
and saints--
So...with pen and pad
we come to the table;
some fable some truth
with manic greed
we plate all obsessions
imbibe the fatal drink;
not a writer dare blink--
both God and the Devil
transfixed, they are watching,
prolonging to eternal
some final call--
so long as the poet
amuses them all….
Categories:
exhalation, humorous, nonsense, poems, poetry,
Form:
Free verse
Above: Wystan in fancy dress
as a beetle -1912
Photographs of Wystan
One of the world's
greatest poets
in a pose, similar
to an Anne Gedde's baby
Balancing beetle antennae
his head at an angle
a satin suit padded to
emulate the chest
of a beetle's,
Spare legs of black velvet
dangling while
he stands upright
feet together, his
expression, militant
Certain in this moment
of his current
resemblance to
a beetle
At five years old,
to think he held
potential for such poetry
A black and white photo,
frontspiece for "The Life of a Poet"
It appears to have been
snapped just before an
exhalation of his cigarrette.
At 65
his face is wrinkled
eye bags reminiscent of
a sharpei puppy
but it is the forehead
that so amazes
with grids as square as graphic paper
as if the poetry
had been mapped out
on his face
I've seen mud, cracking
like that, on a dried up river bed
His fingers are long, chiselled
and in relaxed contact
with that cigarette as
he holds back a chuckle
with the smoke
His air is of a casual formality- a waistcoat
teamed with with a plaid sports coat
In retrospect, here, he had
reached his full potential
I wonder if someone
uttered at his funeral
"Stop all the clocks."
Categories:
exhalation, books, poets,
Form:
Free verse
anxiety showing through;
bated breath and tired sighs
all the same
today and tomorrow...
just crude forgeries of yesterday
nothing changes
every exhalation breathing out
another piece of our monotony ridden souls
pressure
strife
choking me, constricting my lungs
as if even the air is now my enemy
blowing and pushing me in directions
that I'd sworn never to take
anxiety showing through
Categories:
exhalation, angst, introspection, life,
Form:
Free verse
Nearing the end of their fleeting days,
short-inhaled lives infirmly await the long dark
Garrulously tilting fermented liquids in a park,
they watch their former youthful ways
Addled memories of a once robust stride
keep the brown paper covered truth hidden well
Selfish pleasures have left their flesh bodies frail,
weary envious exhalation of tearful pride
Uncomfortable thoughts tinge their mind,
feeble resistance offered in boisterous recollections
Never given to ingest any sobering contemplations,
aged souls possessing only wrinkled opine
Cantankerous wrong heights stooped on a bench,
bemoaning last rites of spirits dead long ago since
Categories:
exhalation, allusion, dark, eulogy, people,
Form:
Sonnet