Best Expanses Poems
Smiling, as our glances would glimpse, knowing, as our souls would meet
Upon this plane of sphere, where time, it did not ever exist
These curtains, no longer drawn, exposing thresholds
That we both had crossed, wishful, and wantingly
Into my arms, she then now waltzed, within her velvet, and silkened touch
Melting, into my depths her love, deep, inside of me
Silently, as I gazed into her eyes, kaleidoscopes, of cascading colors, reflecting
The endlessness, of these vast expanses of desires, longings, that we both could see
Much more than flesh, much more than barriers, much more, than life itself
Was the warmth, of her cherished breath, the essence, of her purity
Reaching, resurrecting a pulse, that I, we, should finally be
As the world stood still, and the skies became frozen
When our lips first brushed, an impassioned kiss, that would follow
The galaxies, exploding, from beneath the waters, of this now, washing sea
For no longer was she just a picture, and no longer, was she just a dream
Entwined forever, was this our spirits, as one, she became real to me
These souls that danced, amid the starlit heavens, unto the endless, of all eternity
She and I, and we alone, immersed within a light, a love
That no time, no life, no eyes, have they ever seen....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Destiny ~
Mine is a land of golden rivers
And glowing sunsets that melt your heart
A long history of native people in harmony
With lush wildlife and four seasons
Rich forests covering vast expanses
Mine is a land of golden rivers
Where sockeye salmon race up rapids
And eagles soar great heights
Cool calm breezes summoning the night
As the moon rises to cast her spell
Mine is a land of golden rivers
That run wide from coast to coast
Maritimers greeting each morning sun
As it ascends over mountain ranges
Caressing this topography called Canada
Mine is a land of golden rivers
AP: 1st place 2021, 2nd place 2025, 2nd place 2023, 2nd place 2021, 3rd place 2021, Honorable Mention 2025, Honorable Mention 2023, Honorable Mention 2023, Honorable Mention 2022, Honorable Mention 2022, Honorable Mention 2021, Honorable Mention 2020
Submitted on July 3, 2019 for contest NOSTALGIA ANY FORM sponsored by BRIAN STRAND - RANKED 1ST
All The Time
The pale dusted blue
Washes sunlight prances
Falls in its edges of heat and pristine shade
Shadows
And I need you
Couples old and young
Hand in hand
Arm in arm
Families pass on pavements baked by the sun
They smile
Like children on shoulders
Babies in push chairs
Ice cones melting
And I need you
And every form of tree and leaf
Dances
Wafted by salt sea breezes
They leap in their slow expression
Of life
As I need you
All around the sweet sounds live
Birds chirp
People talk
The wind whispers
And eyes witness behind sunglasses
And I need you
And far away the distances
Expanses open
Lay landscapes out beneath the sun
Busy streets
Car roofs shimmer hot and traffic
All happening in this moment
As I need you
Pretty women in their summer clothes
Sip their beauty from every mans eyes
And glide like angels loved by someone
And the world is happily
Curious in its ease
And I need you
And I rest in tension
Taut and unspoken
Quiet misnomer
The wind catches me and dries the sweat on my brow
With a strangers face watching the world
As I miss you
The light falls
The shadows cosset
The gentle air wafts spent bracts of bougainvillea
The out laying pattern of life
Reiterates
Constant
Sends its everlasting messages out
And every second of time passes
In tiny frozen moments
And I need you
Nothing changes
Nothing replaces
You
Ah, to this land of the monsoons
or should it have been the sunsoons?
Yet for frozen land tourists, a tropical hot boon.
Where bullock carts, stray dogs, horse carriages and cows
pedestrians, goats, bikes and rickshaws
scooters, trucks, motorbikes and cabs
all compete together in quirky medley of traffic jams
On crammed roads you could ram into bulls and rams
So brakes forever screeching, the cars forever honking, hooting
while beggers begged and pickpockets could go a' looting on a footing
But where else you'd see, ducks and ponds in the city
buffaloes wallowing in mud without fear or pity!
Urban jungle eh, you'd think with a wink
and in many's esteem this land shan't ever sink.
Then pass the huge expanses of paddy fields and the rice farmers
and next come face to face with those Indian snake charmers!
Ah and the imposing edifice, Tajmahal, one of the seven wonders of the world
is no where else found, nor are the epic himalayas on any map unfurled
except for India, and a whole ocean with her name
The Indian ocean knows and salutes her fame!
As for me, meeting relatives there, is the best best part
then shopping too in each and every crowded mart
shopping like crazy, filling my spree's shopping cart!
Ah, the rustic charm of our old uncovered bridges
built in a century not quite on the verge of major industrialization -
back in a time when connections were vital
for fledgling communities just starting to survive and later, to thrive.
They spanned an entire era with a semblance
of simplicity and romance, providing shelter
in a world still moving slowly yet steadily toward progress.
It was not long before they’d be left behind.
Today we travel across vast expanses of bridges – uncovered ones
from which the world we view flies past us
through the windows of speeding automobiles
and virtually from screens of phones and computers.
No longer are we isolated from the world.
Today’s bridges span global communities
in a society where everyone on the planet is privy
to almost everything happening everywhere!
Today’s bridges, forged of steel, are longer and stronger.
We take them for granted, feeling secure in our convenient technologies
as we communicate and travel at faster rates
than ever dreamed possible two centuries ago.
Alas, once the last remnants of such things as
old-fashioned covered wooden bridges are obliterated,
they will be as ancient Egyptian artifacts viewed on Google
with less and less interest shown by each new generation, and
the yet unborn poets of tomorrow will one day write with nostalgia
of today’s uncovered bridges of steel.
Aug. 27, 2017 for the "Covered Bridges" Contest of Craig Cornish
sparkling dancing sea waves touch the shore with flowing magic
of cobalt blue filaments that reflect the sky above
oh endless the huge expanses of pristine shoreline
and the jagged seaward cliffs where cormants and auks nest
wild deep and cold oh restless the rising tide . . .
a cool wind whips off the sea and gulls call
the fishing pier lonely of fishermen this morn'
boardwalks a vast emptiness
foraging albotrosses glide then plunge into the sea
sea waves crashing on weathered rocks in an endless rolling
gentle foaming changes to wild thunder
and yet serene the sea shore view to me
I stayed with the crashing till the last rays of sunset
that fringed the horizon then dipped and fell . . .
and in the moonlight the shore is darkly elusive
with hidden life and I drink the tranquility
this mysterious vastness of endless sand and views
and always in the background those unending waves
caressing
the sea shore . . .
___________________________
February 1, 2016
Poetry/Free Verse/The Sea Shore
Copyright Protected, ID 16-750-997-0
All Rights Reserved. Written under Pseudonym.
For the contest, The Sea Shore
Sponsor, Craig Cornish
Honorable Mention
"Rise an' shine you lazy cowpokes! Time to saddle up yer hoss!
Time to move them moo-cows to summer range!" yelled th' trail boss!
"You've lolled around here all winter, now it's time to earn yer pay!
Jump in yer jeans, pull on them boots an' let's git 'er underway!"
All winter long they'd grown fat in th' bunkhouse eatin' Cooky's fare,
But knowin' that on that long, dusty trail, grub could be mighty spare!
How they'd long fer good ol' gut-fillin' grub as they wuz mendin' fences,
An' roundin' up them wily dogies roamin' over God's vast expanses!
Come supper time th' cowpunchers would lounge about a blazin' far,
Smokin' roll-yer-owns, chewin' th' fat an' nursin' cuts frum bobbed war!
Thankin' th' Lord fer their grub, Cooky yelled, "Come an' git 'er fellers!
Ain't much, but me an' my ol' Dutch oven done purty good!" he bellers!
Th' menu never varied but they knew better'n to complain about his cuisine,
Er Cooky could be as grumpy as a rattlesnake er a disgruntled wolverine!
Ever' supper consisted uv th' same ol' thing - a classic case uv deja vu:
Beans, spuds, bacon, sour dough biscuits an' a dollop uv mystery stew!
Frum across th' valley a harmonica's melancholy tune wuz heard,
As th' night guard kept a wary vigil an' soothed th' restless herd.
Th' cowpokes dreamt uv a hearty breakfast but they already knew,
It'd be beans, spuds, bacon, sour dough biscuits an' a dollop uv mystery stew!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
I cherish you betwixt
the spaces of darkness
& white lightning,
creative spiritedness
amidst insecurities,
Chantilly lavender lace 'neath
abrasive gunnysack burlap,
mid late night news & poetry of early
dawning 'pon acquiescently sleepless nights,
'tween whispered wisps of lilting light
and duskily echoed shadows
catching twilit moonbeams whilst
stargazing midst your eyes,
enveloping infinite expanses
which rapturously
invoke none other
Evening Hours
An azure sky is being defeated
by a shadow world where
a persistent half-moon is already
making its way up the silken expanses
of blackest night
A horse whinneys, spooked
by the rattle of an old
lawnmower on its way to the shed.
Mosquitoes, agitated, smell blood
in veins that evade their foray,
then try to find egress
through kitchen window screens
A limousine glides through
the dusk, empty, but proud
A raggedy convertible pulls up
The driver pets the fur of his
small dog
Both must stop at a traffic light
while an old man with one leg gone
is sweating to get his wheelchair
across the street before
the light changes
A silver haze from too much heat,
lasting too long, shivers over
shadows in the park, where a
street man has curled up on
a wooden bench.
The half-moon tips its crescent
toward a statue of a soldier
on horseback, saber raised,
hat on straight
A slip-slap of slippers sounds
on the still-warm concrete
as a young woman puts out
a letter to be gathered
by the mail man.
The evening smells of roses
attar burning the nose with musky beauty
Murky pools of gathering night
darken the corner the corner
where daisies grow
Star dust;
red powder on your lips
in the creases lit
against the moon...
Shadows luminescent;
rose water breath
and a needle to sew
the Milky Way closed...
You step to edges of mountains
and check the pulse of black expanses
with star dust,
rose water,
ink eyes and padded fingers...
Red powder on your lips
and the wailing songs of eternity
running through your veins.
You say the words of love not often pass
my lips but all the words I would amass
over my life can't possibly convey
your beauty. As before the love holds sway
over the words of tongue and pen. I try
to find a flawless language whereby
I could speak diamonds, moons, expanses, times
about your loveliness, to pick up rhymes
with your saliva's mead, to get a font
out from the depth of hell by which I want
so badly to write down those few
words of my love I'll never say to you.
The time has come, the nest is bare.
The little ones have grown and flown elsewhere.
The house once filled with laughter, turmoil and noise
now echoes silence, with peace heralding different joys.
The rooms once cluttered with toys and books
are now empty and tidy, mementos put away for good.
The walls that once echoed with cries and screams
now stand as silent expanses, the noises lost in dreams.
The days once spent in a flurry of activity for dependents
now stretch out before us, open and free, for us as co-defendants.
At last we can do what we really want to do for ourselves,
with memories much cherished put in their place on shelves.
The future ahead may be uncertain, empty and new.
But I am ready to embrace it, to start anew.
To rediscover myself, to explore and grow in the pruned thinned out space
To follow my heart with you, wherever it may go.
For though the nest may be empty and bare
my heart is full to the brim, with memories to share.
And as I look back on the years gone by
I smile, knowing I did my best, with love in my nest.
Random strangers crossing in the street
Namaste she said to me
Hands joined as she nodded her head
Engaging my heart without deviating
Arrow straight to my soul
Stood out unlike anyone else
I could tell her heart was pure
She was coming from a place of peace
Her soul untroubled and serene
Her eyes vast expanses of gentleness
That was it
Her gift
Namaste
And she walked away
Published in my 24-page photo/anthology ~NAMASTE~ 2020
Read on air by invitation ~ July 21, 2021 'WORDS & MUSIC'
Submitted on February 28, 2018 for contest RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS sponsored by KAI MICHAEL NEUMANN - RANKED 2ND
angel in the snow
glide over white expanses -
light changes - to blue
18/12/2019
Sun :) - A-L Andresen :)
Copyright © All Rights Reserved
Writing Challenge, December - Winter Haiku or Senryu
Sponsor, Dear Heart - Wiishkobi Ode
4th place in the contest
Be careful of how you think,
of its logic is how your rank,
sow, reap and weep,
lesser to be,
is frozen in time...
to be of the lesser fact,
is not all that it is cracked,
Mount up on heavenly wings,
it is the logical faith that be,
consciousness of precept kings,
For earthern subjects galore,
of their own minds of darkness explore…
that shall not soar... or explore,
vast unlimited expanses,
with human mediocre advances...
fact... tree... wings... be...
kings... explore... galore... for... evermore
rank... think...
naughty... children...
Father... spanks
Precept ranks...
human concepts stink...
holistically rank...
learn logic of precept think...
from thine own cisterns shrink...
Selah