Best Fled Poems
Life Fled As I Sought Yet Another Day,
( verses born from the illusion of immortality, 1977)
Part One
As I went beyond that black veil,
Having trod this earth and seen hell,
I look back while daring to say,
" Life fled as I sought yet another day."
Yes, youth was fine in days of dust,
Love its great bounty sought, a must,
Little thought of the later pay
" Life fled as I sought yet another day."
World was a ride, its glory great,
Of its sweetest pleasures I ate,
I that went about my own way,
" Life fled as I sought yet another day."
I a warrior born by birth,
A child of heart, a child of earth,
A lone vagabond as they say
" Life fled as I sought yet another day."
A true joy, my shadow and I,
Wanderer beneath heavenly sky,
Hellbent to do just as I may,
" Life fled as I sought yet another day."
O' sweet future lay at my feet,
As I sought coming death to cheat,
Fate cried, " No more can you stay"
" Life fled as I sought yet another day."
As I went beyond that black veil,
Having trod this earth and seen hell,
I look back while daring to say,
" Life fled as I sought yet another day."
Robert J. Lindley, March 5th, 1977
Rhyme, ( To live, love and dream, a life )
Presented 1-13-2021
Note: deleted
He fled the gazes of his brood --
They cut his soul with faces
sharp from lack of food.
Although their mouths
Voiced no complaint,
Their steady, unaccusing stares
Were so much more than he could bear --
This hero of two foreign wars.
He cowers now in alleyways
(And drinks his courage from a jar)
Beneath a far, unjudging star.
Where has the romance gone
moonlit nights kissing 'til dawn
Where fled the tenderness
from our love once so strong
Where are the conversations
that used to matter so much
Where are the magic moments
when our fingertips touched
Where are the sparks that flew
from our hearts to our minds
Who uncoupled our souls ~
the ties of caring that bind
My
heart,
my soul,
lie empty
since your love has fled.
Your gentle laughter haunts my mind.
Those brown eyes so soft and warm now shine for another.
Long auburn hair framed your beautiful face, now shared with someone else in loves sweet embrace.
Written 09/03/2015
for Rob Carmack's contest "Fibonacci"
She was running for her life
feeling his hot breath and his
clutching at her clothes. Crashing
through the trees and thick undergrowth.
Stumbling, still feeling him getting closer
She gave a muffled scream as tumbling over
and over she fell down a steep embankment.
Lying there dazed a tongue started to wash
her face. Opening her eyes she realised that
her pursuer was a friendly boxer who thought
she was playing, never realising he had nearly
scared her to death as he grabbed her clothes.
thankfully she threw her arms around his neck.
Completely lost, she said, you will have to find
the way to her new friend, swiftly he led her back
to the road and sat by her car. Looking closely
she could see he was a stray and let him into
her car. So all turned out well for both.
She Fled Into A Dark Oblivion On The Rise
She fled into a dark oblivion on the rise
mad race into its dark devil's eyes.
Just another fix, her body had its needs
who cares if everything else bleeds?
Needle and a spoon - O' what a damn song
clown in love, sadly tagging along.
Oh baby! I will love you even more tonight
I need my fix, so we don't fight.
And the wicked demon, he was not evil rum
a beast with her under its thumb.
Not a conman selling his slick little lies
nor hidden storms in gentle skies.
Just a needle with its pointy little head
her laying in a haze upon her bed.
Now I was there, the sad clown holding on
a future day, my smile- it was gone!
And that dark demon, flew in every day
held her captive every damn way.
And the clown tried to hold that place
with tears streaming down his face!
One day- The sad tears all dried on up
he refused to be her empty cup.
And away he flew to another dear Fate
and then she held her bitter hate!
Another excuse, needle to meet her arm
just one more, for whats the harm?
Resting there- beautiful eyes all a'glaze
soon the comfort of a dead haze!
She fled into a dark oblivion on the rise
mad race into its dark devil's eyes.
12-07-2015
The voice which my throat hurled, I don’t know what happened to it.
Whether the sky swallowed it or it changed into a bird and flew away.
But my fancy keeps floating like a boat around the islands of flowers,
The azure continents of the skies and, the archipelagos of stars in search
Of it. To me that search is enough.
The sky is not an arid desert of vacuum; it is the nest of the winged
Singers called birds. It is the hypnotic city, where the wind constantly works on
The architecture of clouds.
For this prisoner of pitiless life, that little rag of sky,
Fluttering beyond the iron bars is enough.
That fistful of evening which stares at me from beyond
Those clusters of trees-is enough
That little slice of Blue Ocean, whose eyes keep looking at me,
Standing on tiptoe from behind the pearly sand dunes;
beyond the cashew nut gardens- is enough
That particle of desire which keeps whispering
in some remote corner of the heart is enough-
-Seshendra Sharma
http://seshendrasharma.weebly.com
TURNED IN TO WATER AND FLED AWAY/modern Indian classic by
By Seshendra Sharma first appeared in print in 1976
Mildred fled when Joe asked her if she
would let him see 'below' for a fee.
As she shot to a run
though, thread caught and unspun...
So instead, Joe got showed it for free!
She said: You were my very first
I loved you under the stars and before the sun
He Said: It was without choice, that day I fled
two faces of sadness, two hearts misread.
She said: It seemed a dream that very first night
I was afraid to awaken from such a terrible flight
He said: You were my love, I loved you no less
two years I returned to the fear of being replaced.
She said: You were the light my eyes saw each day
I could never allow another to step into your place.
He said: You didn't know the love that dwelled
A mature heart, I felt it best to let you go, so I fled
She said: The air within me turned a subtle cold.
It was a warm summer day, yet my heart felt snow
the mark you left to never be erased.
I could only believe we'd meet again one day.
He said: Years of memories of a younger love
could love unfold in 40 more
should we meet again before our end
will passion unveil a truth within
She said: Never before was truth untold
years choking on unspoken words
time will tell should we meet again
If the mark you left, still dwells within.
She said, He Fled.
Again.......
Youth Fled Away, Time Has Shifted
Youth fled away, time has shifted
that cumbersome dark veil lifted
With more Light, my eyes can now see
that lost lad hiding within me.
Years bring wisdom if one lets it
so pay heed, do not forget it
Temptation says, let us do that
for risking is where cool is at.
Yet what else can human life be
than to live and learn, you and me
Life has errors, both great and small
because of greed, we want it all.
If so blessed, one is set right
finding truth's gift, renewed sight
Upon learning, we should scale back
our daring Fate when we attack!
Youth fled away, time has shifted
that cumbersome dark veil lifted
With more Light, my eyes can now see
that lost lad hiding within me.
Robert J. Lindley, 5-19, 2009
Simple Rhyme, ( Time And Its Learning Curve)
Note: A bit of wisdom, youth too oft risks all because they have yet to ever take a great and harmful fall. Sad thing is sometimes that great fall does more than just harm-- sometimes it ends their life. Time's learning curve makes room for such eliminations, so use more caution, less jumping in without thinking. Think long and hard and look before you leap...
Your children are dead.
Go now and lay down your head.
They've fled, it is said.
(Jul 2022)
The closer you get
The more they seem to move
As their shapes become giant
And your hopes then behoove
Now anchored offshore
With the dinghy in place
You can see them more clearly
Each shape and each face
Like monolithic Gods
They reign high on the hill
Looking down on who enter
With a warning that’s shrill
But where are the people
The Island is bare
Just giant stone carvings
That linger and stare
As you land on the beach
The ground starts to shake
And from deep in your heart
The primordial aches
The mountain then trembles
All paths become closed
With the thunder a warning
Any trespasser knows
As you run to the dinghy
Its been stolen and gone
And your ship is now missing
In its place just a song
Calling out in those words
That you already know….
“A price not paid dearly
is only for show”
You turn back to the mountain
And in an explosion of light
You’re lifted up to the heavens
Spun around in a fright
Then shooting straight downward
Toward the mountain below
With force you are planted
Along monument row
And now that you’ve joined them
All questions abide
The distance and separation
In heaven collide….
“Can I leave, am I destined
to be left here entombed ?”
And in language you recognize
You hear back so soon
From those pillars immortal
Voices start to be heard
Your welcome now total
Reborn in their words
“You can leave if you want to
the choice is now yours
but this mountain goes
with you
all places defer
you’ve reached
through the mystery
you’ve passed your own test
the tonic’s within you
—the raven has fled”
(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2013)
Written by
Kurt Philip Behm
kurtphilipbehm.com
The ribbon is cut
The die is cast
The cement is dry
Yet nothing lasts
The brazen rewarded
The hero a fool
All reason outdated
New fury the tool
A journey presented
Your ship to go far
With doldrums eclipsed
By the light of new stars
The lands will seem foreign
The people most strange
But they’ll smile as you pass
And call you by name
You run and you run
And you run from it all
With no map to guide you
The albatross calls
And then sweet intention
Returns from respite
Rephrasing the unmentioned
Where maybe you might
In fear of the tonic
All healing disdained
Right, left-side disjointed
The cork from the drain
The covers pull back
Your bones are now bare
The tiller is slack
And there’s nobody there
So you take to the helm
Hands firmly in place
And you care not a whit
If it’s all empty space
As a raven is perched
On the yardarm so high
A land bird that lurches
Cawing all truth a lie
And you wonder then maybe
Have you wandered too far
As you ladle the future
From a long empty jar
The wind starts to move
A gift from the moon
What’s whole has been halved
And the sun almost noon
The rigging is creaking
The mast ever tall
The wind has died down
With no new ports of call
The feeling still burns
In the fire within
To find that one thing
That unfound—to you sings
The ocean is flat
The seas become calm
The seasons repeat
From reflection embalmed
The night sky is clearest
The darkest the days
The winds have escaped you
Adrift you now stay
But then just a wisp
Of a breeze on your cheek
Portends of a magic
And the vision you seek
It strengthens and gushes
Throughout all the night
As the red sky last evening
Had hinted it might
As the headsails go up
The big linen comes down
And you climb up the mast
Stepping over a frown
The creak of the lapstrake
Splashes over the bow
The present’s in sight
Incarnate right now
You look down on a lifetime
In this moment of joy
As the smell of the brine
Covers anything coy
And an Island approaches
From the mist up ahead
As the stillness reproaches
And retreats to its bed
The wonder returns
All speculation begins
Of the magic you’ll find
In this newness again
At the top of a mountain
Strange trees then appear
In a shape that’s uncertain
Neither familiar nor clear
(continued in part two)
When You Are Old Poetry Contest
Sara Kendrick
Yeats' poem describes his courtship that sank
With his misconnection he is bitter
And he takes digs at his beau's true glitter
Alluding that his fire drew her blank
He paints a now-and-then picture of her
Saying he'd be the one holding her hand
Should old age leave her without charm and bland
Yet she wasn't guilt-tripped at his demur
She then cashes in with another man
Which likely prompted this poem's planting
And Yeats' mocking her with his self-ranting
Saying his being was dwarfed by her span
She had
got mad
and threw
a shoe
he tucked
and ducked
and ran
from Jan
Oh Fred
she said
you make
me ache
Allow
me now
To take
a break
Goodbye
A sigh
12-17-2020