Best Foe Poems
Only Hope And Faith Can, Such Foe Defeat
Years have flown by- heart and soul feels effect
tears I now cry, come not from Love's neglect
For Dawn yet gives its soft rays that so shine
this world my oyster, shining pearl is mine!
Alas! Such joy has not always been so
once dark dread, demanded I just let go
In that abyss, almost no light exists
nor can one escape by hard pounding fists!
As Time and Fate work to bring on decay
world joins in with its steady evil sway
Only Hope and Faith can, such foe defeat
to bring redemption, lay joy at ones feet!
Hold firm, in knowledge, Light truly redeems
to save mortal souls, from world's evil schemes!
Robert J. Lindley, 8-17-2019
Sonnet, ( Once Found Blessing, Where Land Flows With Milk And Honey )
Note--
Born from a dream that sought me out last night
Truth gave sight, gave power to further heal
Darkness meets defeat by Power of Light
Salvation comes only in divine meal.
"Memory is man's greatest friend and worst enemy."
~ Gilbert Parker ~
Laud precious memories when cold nights prevail
Those that fan love's flames as wintry winds wail
for upon those images, a lonely heart sets sail
if only in an interlude where grief cannot assail
Tho' behind and betwixt are storms, dark mortal seas
yet love births sweet glories, devoid of costly fees
Far more beautiful than earth is Nature and its trees
On a romantic path, in truest light, may God it please
Mourns the heart when memories are bittersweet
Each one a plunging dagger, blades of winter sleet
A mighty foe one cannot banish or cast off in defeat
for with each renewed attack, pain is wont to repeat
Memories of past failures plague sad, wounded souls
Invisible afflictions impose such pretentious tolls
Past wrongs are seared into regret's grievous roles
remaining as fair warning, which wisdom fairly extols
But there are melodious moments; dulcet thoughts
where flows trickling memoires and elation imparts
rushing through veins 'til canvassed in pulsing hearts
as treasured paintings; unforgettable works de' arts
When a smile, sans apparent reason, plays upon lips
and eyes shine as though emerging from a lunar eclipse
there will arise a memory, perhaps in cursory snips
a prize to relish, delectable as wine a connoisseur sips
There's a viscerally vial creature loosed,
Which is heinously hideous and vicious.
This barbarian monstrosity destroys people's vitality and flesh,
By raping and pillaging their lives,
Killing and ravaging entire families and villages,
Forever cursing all those it consumes.
I've taken up armament against this enemy,
Vowing an oath to eradicate this foe.
I wage continued war on this unholy vile behemoth,
Thrusting my dagger through its abdomen,
Ripping and slashing its bowels,
But it shrugs off the assault undeterred.
I shoot arrows through its heart,
Only to realize tis useless as no heart exists.
I take my sword and behead the beast,
But like Hydra, it restores its venomous crown.
I hack off its limbs chopping flesh and bone,
But it slithers demonically onward.
I gouge out its eyes blinding it from finding victims,
But it smells weakness, fear, and depression,
And tracks its quarry like a bloodhound.
I smash out its treacherous bloodthirsty teeth,
But it mauls its prey bludgeoning it mercilessly,
Slowly but surely till it's powerless.
I wrestle it and break it's back so it's paralyzed,
But its grotesque distorted mangled body trudges forward unhindered.
Nothing I do stops this devastating onslaught,
And I relinquish my battle and succumb unwillingly to this curse.
Destined to be enslaved to this ruthless foe forever.
Left helpless to struggle until I die,
Fighting with my own sins.
Memories: Friend and Foe,
collaboration with Lin Lane
"Memory is man's greatest friend and worst enemy."
~ Gilbert Parker ~
Laud precious memories when cold nights prevail
Those that fan love's flames as wintry winds wail
for upon those images, a lonely heart sets sail
if only in an interlude where grief cannot assail
Tho' behind and betwixt are storms, dark mortal seas
yet love births sweet glories, devoid of costly fees
Far more beautiful than earth is Nature and its trees
On a romantic path, in truest light, may God it please
Mourns the heart when memories are bittersweet
Each one a plunging dagger, blades of winter sleet
A mighty foe one cannot banish or cast off in defeat
for with each renewed attack, pain is wont to repeat
Memories of past failures plague sad, wounded souls
Invisible afflictions impose such pretentious tolls
Past wrongs are seared into regret's grievous roles
remaining as fair warning, which wisdom fairly extols
But there are melodious moments; dulcet thoughts
where flows trickling memories and elation imparts
rushing through veins 'til canvassed in pulsing hearts
as treasured paintings; unforgettable works de' arts
When a smile, sans apparent reason, plays upon lips
and eyes shine as though emerging from a lunar eclipse
there will arise a memory, perhaps in cursory snips
a prize to relish, delectable as wine a connoisseur sips
Robert J. Lindley and Lin Lane collaboration.
Rhyme, 12-09-2019
Note: Thank you Lin. An honor to collaborate with you
and see firsthand your fine poetic talents on blessed display..
God bless...
The Enchanted Foe
She lurks in the garments of fugitive empathy,
Her abode is the refuge of burdened and bleeding souls
She is the sojourner in the sanctuary of sorrowful hearts
Bewitching the bewildered and the bothered
Captivating the wounded and the confounded,
the baffled and the bereft
She saunters, seeking the soulful and the unsuspecting
She bathes, as the lids of wistful eyes,
welling with tears, lent by the old croc,
silver rain from the cloudy face of the pretentious;
blemished by invisible dirt
She craves the privy to your secrets
She is nourished by your misfortune;
of which she makes music,
grotesque but soothing to idle ears
Those who indulge her,
become music to idle ears
Her instrument is the tongue,
Supine and slyly wagging
Ever a friend in need,
never a friend in deed
Can’t help, but break aching hearts
She is the enchanted foe,
rich in libelous lyrics;
grisly but gripping
If her song delights your ears,
it is given, you are a chorus;
delighting idle ears
Time, friend or foe
I really don’t know
Both, I suspect
As I recollect
Friend in a way
I’d have to say
For I’ve known love
That I can speak of
And I’ve been blessed
I might suggest
But foe, I report
For time runs short
And must make haste
No time to waste
Author Dana Redricks
February 24, 2019
Depression trying to get
to get the best of me
but I know it ain't nothing
but the enemy
Some use drugs and food to
try to ease the pain
My God said to bring all
my burdens for his burden
is easy and his yoke is light
God will give us comfort and
help us sleep peacefully
Throughout the night
Many times the enemy
brings up my past but
trying to make me forget about
my future but I remember
his future while he's
reminding me of my past
Satan is a defeated foe.
Christ defeated him on the
cross two thousand years
ago and at the mention of
Jesus every demon and even
Satan got to flee
Tardigrade
Consider the lowly Tardigrade
To survive any environment, it is tailor made
Commonly known as the water bear
This handsome creature can live any where
From underground to the vacuum of space
It is no threat to the human race
Unless, it mutates and does grow
Then it looks like it could be a ferocious foe
****modeled on Ogden Nash Style*****
Rain
falls softly
Refreshing, watering, reviving.
Ponds, streams, rivers, reservoirs
Flooding, raging, destroying
Demolishing buildings
Monsoon
Penned 7 November 2014
Led to believe
you'd help me achieve
the grace of a ballerina
a voice operatic
from my usual asthmatic
cackle like a laughing hyena
Distaste despite
I endured your bite
the party with gusto to steer
true state of affairs
via video fare:
drunk, I'm a weirdo, witless and *****
Alone on my porch bench
abhorring my stench
I sit with my head on the pound
in hangover's claws
I glare at the cause:
scores of bottles strewn all around
"I'll drink no more
on wine declare war
as of now I'm calling you quits
thief of humanity
my reason for insanity
'cos of you my life's in the pits."
A-cuss and a-curse
I pick up the first:
"Say hello to the wall of the park
sing your last aria
afore I smash yer!!"
as with a discus fling a wide arc
"Nice tinkle I reckon."
bend for a second:
"You fiend, I'll smash you to bits
you dug me a hole
my life to control
stole the bigger chunk of my wit."
Tinkle-smash-tinkle
my eyes a-twinkle:
"Down with alcohol, scourge of society
to drink is absurd."
smashing a third
"You monster, you stole my sobriety."
"Whoa! Whoa! This one is weighty
unlike your mateys
with you I've never had quibble
in fairness to you
you'll lift my blues
for my woe I don't hold you responsible."
DELYSIA. FOR GIORGIO'S CONTEST.
INSPIRED BY:
"Dear alcohol, We had a deal where you would make me funnier,
smarter, and a better dancer. I saw the video. We need to talk..."
- Anonymous
I've read the book and it is so
That death is a defeated foe.
He lurks within the shadowland
Light being what he can not stand.
In the kingdom, where there's no night,
Death can't exist; for all is light.
Light your houses brightly and everywhere you go
Tell the vagrant, death, out loud " be gone defeated foe."
RETA PRUITT
August 6, 2016
Nature, Friend and Foe
Speak out the words to the soft petaled plants,
that grow wearily in the distant corners
It is there that the scrub jay alights,
squawking and gorging on berries.
This habitat has brought the wildlife to the garden,
in an endless search for food stuffs,
always glancing over their shoulders heads turned 180 degrees, ears taut,
translucent eyes peering, fright, flight,
an evolved history, chiseled in practical instinct.
I am speaking to you dear nature,
from me you will learn exactly nothing,
it is from that which you are that I will learn.
Listen to my plaint though it fall on deaf ears.
Though you hop or walk, fly or scurry, crawl, swim or slither,
movement is your the essence, your vitality, your survival,
which appears to invite you to take the life that animates and live it to any and all ends.
Is there no loss for you, do you not care or bother for condition?
If we as a race of evolved mammalian beings were once like you,
how is it we've fallen so far from the tree and yet continue to survive?
Did you dear nature reject us, are we a sullen body of flesh
unaccustomed to following the laws that govern your being?
Are we but a rejected group?
Fires that burn forests and wastelands,
ignited by the thunderbolts from Jupiter's hand
both cleanse and rejuvenate an overgrown and tired terrain;
lava spewn out from out of the mouth of a volcano
drives itself over the land building and combing the landscape with layers of liquid rock,
cooled by atmospheric difference.
Flooding waters, ferocious winds, the whirling and swirling of earth
and its organisms of flesh and bone
thrown up and into a vortex of howling change
is greeted with impassivity.
You, my nature, friend and foe, your indifference, your beauty
and the brutality of your wrath are both vexing and compelling,
how are we to understand and continue to care?
Suey Creek
October, 2012
You pompous poison
Maze of monotonous mistrust
Frail heart full of treason
Delirious repentance
Blasphemous bait betrayed
Regret grown grief
Fire flaming fantasy filled
A fate framed future foretold
Love can now rest knowing
Your destined diabolical death
Farewell false foe
Lay
Chameleon - Friend or Foe
A tree dwelling lizard with sticky tongue,
Changes its colours to suit its purpose.
Native to Africa, furthest south,
A shrewd and calculating reptile.
Stereoscopic eyes scheming projections,
Uniquely adapts and conforms.
Cunning deceptions, misleading intentions,
Ensures self preserving survival.
Skin rough and weathered with tiny scales,
Exhibits shades of envy, jealousy.
Seldom evoking strong emotion,
It adapts its colours to company.
Its Camouflage often mistakable,
Chameleons fill the forest.
Playing dead in presence of predators,
A self promoting carnivore.
A Chameleon is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Friends,i presumed us
My adversary,you viewed ye
Hence,foes we become