Best Exhaled Poems
water
murmurs softly,
through the cool of exhaled
breath, against the stones it whispers,
secrets
secrets,
gently spoken,
lonely unbeckoned words,
hidden deep within broken hearts,
aching
aching,
melting sorrow
pours viscous and endless,
caressing emotions that hide
within
within
this emptiness
sprouts the seed of desire,
where blooms love’s flower, bathed in sweet
water
04/01/2018
Categories:
exhaled, loneliness, sorrow,
Form:
Cinquain
As my thoughts shrink my mind expands
Growing into the spaces between my words
The words of others
Refreshed within the pauses
Dancing inside possibilities
Filling in the blanks
Words suspended
Within time and space
Connecting the random with the infinite
Skipping along
Flowing through in whispers
The spaces
Reflecting eternal promises
Stepping stones along elastic highways
Breaths yet to be exhaled
Here I grasp for inked pleasure
My resting place
along inspiration's highway
My moments of calibration
Synaptic revelations
Hallways leading to ancient corridors
The place where all artist meet
Each space, appears the same
To those unable to see
They can't feel the symphony
Yet, we who live, within the spaces
Rise together
Give applause
A world expanded from the small
An opening within word walls
Rising to float, upon the breeze
They lift our mind with subtle ease
Come and join me please
I have space
I have room
Within my spaces
For you
Categories:
exhaled, introspection,
Form:
Free verse
Bilocation – 2-11-24
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bilocation
Love
Slips through labyrinths of tangled spirits
Complexities and conundrums of misdirection
Released by prophecy,
Like clairvoyant fingers of misty sunshine
in two planes
sharing one minute.
Love reaches beyond boundaries of fluttering flesh -
A bridge point of lyric pointillism
With the rhythmic respirations of one breath
Inhaled,
Exhaled,
In poetic unison.
Love exists
Beyond mortality of bone and sinew,
Not begging for crumbs
At the prophesied banquet
The festival
That rains clear jubilees
On every exuberant heart
Reveling in its ecumenical caress
Wrapping cells, bound in time,
With never aging,
Time released,
Pulsing plasmas.
Love dissolves membranes
In transdermal hands of blessing
Showering polka dots of zest
On the skin of souls
Transfusing showers of tenderness,
Ardor
And affection
Into ever borning present – never past –
Seeds
Planted like ephemeral timeless sunlight
Without minutes
Or astral lines
Love
Leaves permanent footprints
All at once
And
Everywhere.
Categories:
exhaled, life, love, time,
Form:
Free verse
Sometimes, in uncertain outcomes, as life agitates,
It can sway either way, maneuvering on the edge,
For a difference rather modest, makes the final call,
When a narrow margin determines a win or a loss.
If a win we choose to celebrate, or defeat we deride,
Prudent to bear in mind, that it wasn’t a landslide;
When results are so close, why not cheer them all,
Cognizant to recognize~ distinction is awfully small.
Slender is the layer between eve’s dusk and twilight,
Between dark of dawn, and luminance of sunrise;
Between safe and danger, there lies a narrow divide,
Where, between cliff and fall, life’s border resides.
Mementos of love embraced, and love sadly repelled,
In albums of beloved, or memories forlorn dwell,
Clamoring from corridors of good or bad choices made,
Between narrow margins of hope, and contours of fate.
O, a narrow margin can be of mighty consequence
Inhabiting elation of success, or anguish of regrets,
When death lingers in the clutches of final moments
Stilled between breath inhaled, and breath exhaled.
Categories:
exhaled, life, perspective,
Form:
Verse
O glorious Autumn of melancholic
Gold -
All abouts the brightly lit
Woodlands
Your wonderful artistry behold!
Tinted bronzes,
Darting between awkward firs
Of sobering Evergreen,
Loiter inside mauve havens
Splashed with palest yellows -
And dappled with many differing
Limes
Throughout this variegated Theme;
A myriad of rustling contentment,
Sweetest contrasting charms,
Complimentary...
Softly whispering leafy hues...
Hushed...most elegantly serene.
Bursting into the swelling copses
And invading between the
Dwindling fields:
Auburn, primrose and lilac views -
Abundant with seasons
Celebrations
That so magnificently infuse!
Glowering in simmering sunset,
And spluttering in misty dawn:
Afire with all the orbs oozing
Revelry,
That upon barkened furniture,
To thus gild - and resplendently
Adorn!
Now is the time
That dry tinkling leaves
Give musical resonance
To a breath exhaled from
A breeze...
Fanning the boughs roaring flames
That each out-stretched branch
does eagerly seize,
Fired from the eternal torch
That immortal Ceridwen tirelessly
Sought;
Whilst I hang upon evocative
Memories
That this arresting moment briefly
Caught.
Blazing with a consummate passion
Ignited from a poets grappling
Thoughts:
The Muses to this joyous splendour
Were summarily summoned
And brought;
But as elusive as the enchanting
Notes
From the intoxicating pipes of
Evasive Pan...
So as elusive the words of the
Unwritten verse
That so evade this singular man.
So burn! You gaily painted colours,
Within abandoned restrain,
Your dizzying carousel
A whirling kaleidoscope
Upon an artists ever changing frame.
Soft ochres and dappled browns
Mixed with vivid orange and crimson
Red...
Applied lavishly from the palette
Of Artemis
Over which the vibrant pastes
Are thinly spread.
A riot of pastel shades
All exploding forth -
With the raging power of a
Supernova
Of an immense, dazzling force!
All hail to the almighty:
From the devout to the Divine...
And all hail to the Grandeur
And Majesty -
Of his awe-inspiring design!
Categories:
exhaled, nature,
Form:
Rhyme
Indian summer lies within your autumn hazel eyes,
my velvet bloom vibrant now lost after your killing frost;
love lingers in bereft fingers, I stroke your face in guise,
once lustrous, amaranthine heart lies bleeding in exhaust.
My velvet bloom vibrant now lost after your killing frost,
your chill withered russet my enchanted efflorescence;
once lustrous, amaranthine heart lies bleeding in exhaust,
as you disperse in scarlet moonlighting vaporescence.
Your chill, withered russet my enchanted efflorescence,
blue breath exhaled... my cooling mood still hangs in our mid-air;
as you disperse in scarlet moonlighting vaporescence,
your affair concupiscent more than my bemoan can bear.
Blue... breath exhaled, my cooling mood still hangs in our mid-air,
my harvested heart-ache, my heart-break, my heart-feeling weep~
your affair concupiscent more than my bemoan can bear,
into all my tomorrows tears of my sorrow shall seep.
My harvested heart-ache, my heart-break, my heart-feeling weep,
amaranth once fertile, frost-bitten, fading everyday;
into all my tomorrows, tears of my sorrow shall seep
despite your warmth, light of day and hoarfrost melting display.
Amaranth once fertile, frost-bitten! Fading everyday,
love lingers in bereft fingers. I stroke your face in guise;
despite your warmth, light of day and hoarfrost melting display,
Indian summer - lies! - within your autumn hazel eyes.
Susan Ashley
October 8, 2017
~ Third Place~
Contest: Mid October Premiere
Sponsor: Brian Strand
Categories:
exhaled, autumn, betrayal, love hurts,
Form:
Pantoum
This will be the last stanza
The last stanza
The final syllable
I commemorate these wounds
to my Agnostic dreams
Because God kept telling me to believe in her
He kept saying,
“Son, be her tissue when she collapses”
“Son, wipe away her sins with this blank slate I’ve given to you”
“Be that man for the woman she may never accept herself to be”
“Be the wings of that angel”
Until, one night, I said a prayer
I said to Him,
“She must go”
“I won’t give up on her, but I must let her go.”
“I leave it to You to save the pariah.”
I, can no longer be that man.
Because I exhaled insipid banter
from misery hollow
Borrowed happiness
whisked me away to coalescent landscapes
under eclipsed moonshine,
sipping unto artificially incipient sunrises
Tasting drops, sour
Wiping them dry, with this flower
my sanctum holds close
And on this day,
this new day,
this last stanza,
soon, I will
no longer finish you with question marks and exclamation points
Soon, I will
complete you,
withdraw from you,
with punctuated silence
I will walk while you crawl
I will smile while you cry
I will see while you’re blind
I will shout while you mumble
I will pray while you deny
I will climb while you trip
I will love while you hesitate
…
This will be my final kiss to you
No longer will we
be
endless
For I now complete you,
you,
my end poem
©Drake J. Eszes
Categories:
exhaled, life, people, me,
Form:
Free verse
Answers were needed, like wind direction,
she could feel him heavy in her heartbeat,
it was a good weight, the kind carelessness brings to capricious carress,
his toe prints still in the trail of beach paths in her fantasy's shores,
were his words an omen of futurity's obsession,
is his face a language for love or lust,
could there be blessings in knowing his total nature,
is he alive as art in her soul, or is he a bore when brought before her banquet,
to the mountain mystic she journeyed with joltings in her guessings,
a Seer who fed the mountains spirit syrup from a collection of wasted wants
spread forth by reused wine bottles, labels changed but all blue from experiences,
the gypsy, to wise to be pretty, and too natural to be ugly
enquired of the woman with youth as a weapon and curiosity as a concern,
"What is the most dangerous thing you've ever done?",
and she replied, 'falling in love', smiling out of embarrassment,
the gypsy smiled too, remembering all that,
after being given the man's name, a simple photo, and a birth date
she stared into Time gone missing, exhaled from a soft stun
and told the inquisitive girl,
"He'll meet you in these mountains,
where gypsies speak of love in cards and legacies in crystals..."
J.A.B.
Categories:
exhaled, adventure, love,
Form:
Romanticism
All one will ever need is you everlasting loyalty
where a thousand teardrops are sourced
glistening gems from the fountain they shall fall
with the grace adorned beauty held within
That of a single tune striking cords deeply
Kissed by the oceans is the salt contained
In wild seas it's there phantoms of the past nightshades
driven by ghosts is the tides turning current
Crashing waves hurled by the breath exhaled
tempest of the storm you carry away footprints
where all that remains is the shell of your being
bleached through the sands of time
Categories:
exhaled, deep, faith, meaningful, ocean,
Form:
Quatrain
They cling, these city dwellers,
to crannied city walls
dusted with the exhaled indifference
of a blindly passing world.
Gasping in the fetid urban exhale
longing for the touch of errant bee.
Escapees of discarded flower pots
surviving on sporadic a/c drips
stretch to catch a glimpse of sunrise.
Rooted in their dreams of being free.
2/18/2020
Categories:
exhaled, city, life,
Form:
Free verse
much like me on a sleepless night
i hear the roar of this restless ocean
pounding like thoughts in my head
as the wind drives me back
one step for every two i take
beneath this blood red rise of morning
inimical are these waves
as they lash out against the rocks
unleashing a spray
like a breath in winter's air
exhaled
yet it falls
like a rake against sand
claiming anything in its path
pulling it in then spitting it out
only to build again
like a raged mind
dissilient
i stand distanced
cowering on the sands
of time
awaiting its calm
June 24 2021
The Shape of water contest
Sponsored by Craig Cornish
Categories:
exhaled, angst, ocean, time,
Form:
Free verse
You are the dawning light of my day as
I wake with your warm body next to mine.
Your deep sexy voice,
my mesmerizing music.
You are the lilt in my laughter
uplifting my soul to heavenly places.
Your sleepy smile, the antidote
mending my heart.
You never cease surprising me
as your love beams from those dark eyes,
I reach up to feel my messy hair,
I swing my legs from bed to floor
with thoughts of combing my wayward locks.
You grab my arm and pull me back
to lay my head upon your chest.
We lay there silent in our bed,
no sounds are heard except a sigh
exhaled from my satisfied breath.
9-28-19
Categories:
exhaled, joy, romantic love,
Form:
Free verse
From Poet's Pen, Love's Infinite Colors May Flow
From the poet's pen, love's infinite colors flow
Even when, it inks verse of darkness down below
And poet's heart, gifts to others, romantic light
Be still gasping breath, as Venus dares show her might
As depths of love, 'a la Romeo and Juliet
There her favored lovers rejoice tete-a-tete.
From the poet's heart, ripen fruits, Art purely grows
Majestic as the golden treasures Nature sows
Ever as, expanding roots, Love's beautiful trees
Glide as sensual waves, building hope in swirling seas
The singing of love's firstborn, its beauty con Amore
Soft vows in passion flung from loving paradise shores.
From poet born breath, exhaled in torrents of praise
Ink gems left before death, cutting through world's malaise
As voice from depths of wilderness and solitude
Berating lies, man's usual hateful attitudes
Falling back on hope, truth and a rose's beauty sublime
Creating art, waging battles against fleeting Time.
From the poet's pen, love's infinite colors flow.
Even should they be, dark verses born from below?
Robert J. Lindley, 8-10-2020
Rhyme, ( Living, Loving Well Amidst Fading Of The Light )
Inspired by the poem-- "Mesmerized"- by Lady Labyrinth
Categories:
exhaled, appreciation, creation, heart, inspiration,
Form:
Rhyme
Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder Poetry Contest //Sponsored by: Crystol Woods
( 1st Place )
Written: August 07, 2025
They say stillness is absence, an empty space between worth noting,
but I have heard its melodies in the pre-dawn chapel where stillness reigned
and still the walls exhaled calm.
I have found stillness and not loneliness---
but in two hands clutching without speaking,
the heart knowing inside out
language would only raze.
Silence is like sunlight before it shines,
the tranquility after I sleep and
the reluctance before "I forgive you",
It grips what chaos cannot express--admiration, agony, dread.
Even when grieving and when at a loss for words,
calmness is at hand and says it all.
So let the world fill with echoes.
With clamor and vivid proclamations.
I will still turn up beauty.
In the lull between storms,
In the hush between instinct and doubt
In the sacred calmness, that hark,
Not to respond, but to understand.
Categories:
exhaled, inspirational, love, peace, philosophy,
Form:
Free verse
Silent sighs hide inside breath clouds
exhaled into sentimental air
as brisk winds summon twilight,
tinting innocent horizons.
Oxygen dances with atmospheric particles
creating a plethora of chemical reactions.
Enchantment illuminates in flashes of
colourful magnificence.
Celeste sapphire hints indulge
through violet shades of lavender hues.
Streaks of scarlet crimson petals
flow among coral flamingo shades
as golden streaks swim through
emerald crystallised skies,
seeking sanctuary within the realms
of infatuated devotion.
and that was the first time I saw her eyes
her perfect gift to the world.
Silent One
26 October 2017
Simple musing
Categories:
exhaled, analogy, love, romantic,
Form:
Free verse