Best Forfeiting Poems
I painted a desert in shades of my past
Muted in worry and tears
Granules of sand through a cracked hourglass
Falling in spite of the fears
A range of grey mountains all covered in snow
Cold like my feelings inside
Bordered the desert where nothing would grow
Disguised the volcano I hide
Arid reflections of times long before
Searing the pain to the bone
Lost in a dune now forfeiting the shore
Sinking head first and alone
Painful and clearly my brush strokes unveiled
hidden tears, years of neglect
Slowly emerging in painting, detailed,
hurt I could never connect
Shadows in beige blending in with the scene
heated emotions that bleed
Tell me, I’m pleading what does this all mean
merely an answer I need
I painted emotions in shades of my life
crafting subconscious relief.
Not understanding how my palet knife
changed my despair to belief
Landscapes of sorrow in off canvas glaze
Gather my colors to be
Filled with the beauty of soon to come days
Waiting unpainted for me
***
Augustus 26, 2017
Copyright © Chris Green and Darren White
Categories:
forfeiting, analogy, art, metaphor, sad,
Form:
Quatrain
Upon my life your winter still drizzles
Evoking the morns that arose in despair
And nights that steered dreams into sorrow,
As I sit all alone in valleys of destitute
Where memories haunt pitfalls of yore.
Tender and sweet, you were my ruby rose--
In garden of love, essence of fragrance,
Enchanting petals in butterfly dreams.
But seasons soon ravaged resplendent meadows--
Drought of emotions dried up the crops,
And red-robins left, abandoning empty nests,
When you relinquished the vermilion dawns
And chased sunsets in twilight of sundown
Forfeiting the sunrise that illuminated past--
You heard me there, but said nothing at all.
As arrival of fall marked the summer's end
A budding rose curled-up in travails of desires.
And dreams that cherished revelry of night
Confronted the day that endlessly rained,
When you roamed deserts tailing a mirage
Leaving behind lotus-pond, full of white swans,
Claiming of dissonance in nightingale's song.
Yet, I keep hanging on to visions of spring
Wishing for rivers to rush down from mountains
And blossoms that faded to host a new growth.
But in memoirs of yesteryear there is no tomorrow
For sometimes my dear, love just isn't enough.
September 10, 2019
Poem of the day on September 12, 2019
Placed 1st: Sometimes love is not enough poetry contest
Sponsor: Silent One
Placed 3rd: Your best free verse of 2019 by John Hamilton
Placed 1st: Strand select contest O by Brian Strand
Categories:
forfeiting, lost love,
Form:
Free verse
“O commercialized corporate franchise”
Thou that holds illusions in selling lies
Max out your credit cards
Lenders be holder’s lords
Forfeiting all bank notes as owner cries
“O commercialized corporate franchise”
My babies wonder about Christmas guys
My babies’ futures be scared
Must obey corporate lords
“O thou commercialized corporate lies”
Just commercialized greedy Xmas rush
Souls like zombies of the corporate thrust
The X of the Christ
O Love’s sacrifice
“In commercialized corporate we trust”
For Commercialized Humor contest
Sponsored by: Carolyn Devonshire
Categories:
forfeiting, funny, introspection
Form:
Limerick
Angst
when the relationship tanks
Fear
forfeiting all that you've held dear
Uncertainty
heavy fogs covering the destiny
Regret
losing out on your all-in bet
Heartache
turned out to be another flake
False-Hope
clinging on to the last bit of rope
Future
just a synonym of hope, a fancy nomenclature
Lethargic
tired, lifeless, and sick
Sadness
hand in hand with madness
Motions
forsaking the notions
Grief
caused by an emotional thief
Annoyance
unable to avoid their pre-emptive avoidance
Struggle
being stuck in an unpleasant, unbreakable bubble
Pain
unrelenting heart strain
Tomorrow
another day filled with sorrow
Today
everything is indistinct and gray
The Past
the one thing that never lasts
Hell
the place where we just fell
Categories:
forfeiting, angst, break up, emotions,
Form:
List
Famished and flagging footsoldiers;
formerly fitters and farmers.
Facing fatigue, fitful fever,
faeces and foul, foetid fungi.
Fostering feelings, frustrated,
for this faraway, foreign field.
Forsaking fissures and furrows,
forced forwards with fleetness of foot.
Firearms flash and fragments fly far,
feigning the firmament aflame.
Fighting so fierce and ferocious,
fratricide set free on this field.
Fuelled by freedom, nay, falsehood;
for their fellows and friends, foremost.
Forays so fraught with fine failure,
fatally fettered from the first.
Forged by such fatuous fawners,
focus firmly fixed on this field.
Forfeiting furtive and fiendish,
fulfilment was falsely forecast.
Fate flexes her fickle fingers,
future’s foretold and foreshadowed.
Faustian favours forthcoming,
for folly to feud for a field.
Families of fine forefathers,
fought fiercely, for fear we’d forget.
Forthright and filial feelings,
forgo fun and frivolity.
Familiar flora forms focus,
for the fallen in Flanders Field.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 syallables on every line (www.howmanysyllables.com)
November 2018
(This is my original / extended version)
I wanted to do something special - and a bit different - to mark the centenary of the end of The Great War (11 November 1918). This poem is dedicated to all the brave souls lost defending freedom during that terrible conflict (and all conflicts since).
Categories:
forfeiting, conflict, death, history, memorial,
Form:
Alliteration
Twice-a-day, though sun or rain, in storm or wind or snow
The crazy lady fed her strays, and watched them come-and-go
She had a name for every one, and knew them by their face
Though they sometimes had a spat, they treated her with grace
They numbered over thirty, eating more than she could pay
But with bottles and her overtime, she always found a way
She oft-times skipped a meal herself, to make sure that they ate
And sometimes lived in darkness, if she paid the light bill late
Many nights she braved the chill if she couldn't pay for heat
She rarely bought new clothing, or new boots to warm her feet
And it never ruined Christmas when she didn't have a tree
Cuz she bought an extra meal, instead, for her feline family
She made art of cutting corners, though she rarely caught a break
And countless were the comforts that she gave up for their sake
But she never felt it sacrifice, or her own needs thus impeded
She'd lost in love, but like us all, she still needed to be NEEDED
So, if forfeiting for those we love is a nonsensical thing to do ...
Perhaps we should ALL consider ... being a bit more crazy, too.
* SECOND PLACE in the "Crazy Cat Lady" Poetry Contest, Line Gauthier, Sponsor. *
Categories:
forfeiting, animal, appreciation, love, wisdom,
Form:
Couplet
~the dark piece~
For them there is no clemency
As they desired the daughters of men
Abandoning the heavenly abode
They cohabited with the women
They are to be bound
In prisons made of pillars of fire
They are never to receive a reprieve
And on judgement they shall be brought forth
They who transgressed
Choosing the flesh thus forfeiting the divine
Their seed the nephilim polluted the earth
Cleansing was by sword and fire
They taught men enchantment and sorcery
Magic and the use of spells astrology and magic
They made the earth profane and polluted
Cleansing was by sword and water
The world became a desolate place
Out of their teachings and their offspring
Who desired immortal life but killed each other
The cleansing was by fire and water
Banned from ever going back to heaven
Locked up in a deep abyss lest they see the light
Bound up till the day they face judgement
For them the fires of hell were lit
They ask you for supplication
Your Lord knows best...
As regards their affairs
And your Lord is Just...
code 254
Luis Kay
(pillars of wrath ~the dark piece~)
Categories:
forfeiting, angel, religion, religious, ,
Form:
Free verse
Taking my place in your gazing blue eyes
Who stole the glow of my dawning sunrise?
As defiling your virtues you obliquely lied,
Pounding my heart till I died a little inside.
When a brilliant sunny day said goodbye
As lightening arrived to thunder blue sky
Storming my life, you left me teary eyed
Exacting high price by forfeiting my pride.
Reluctantly I disclaimed your sweet smile
As your blatant animosity put me in exile
And adulating ill-will you ceded to hate,
Trampling on destiny you altered my fate.
On my horizon cried your reign of disdain
As you rejected goodwill again and again.
Remnants of aspirations no longer claim
A desire of passions to reignite our flame.
Meaning of love soon indelibly changed
Revoking your name from souls estranged.
Hurt still remained, woefully pacified--
Lingering listlessly, till I died a little inside.
February 9, 2019
Placed first:Early March 2019 contest by Brian Strand
Placed second:I died a little inside contest by Silent One
Categories:
forfeiting, betrayal, heartbreak, lost love,
Form:
Rhyme
My view from the balcony paints the sky cobalt blue
Unaware of the maple tree that ferociously swings
Quivering its shadows at the behest of gusty winds
As fluttering green leaves filter gilded rays through
As clouds move in, evening calls out the golden sun
For forfeiting its reign of the vibrant orange horizon
When pitter-patter's heard in blooming rose garden
Emanating petrichor from fragrance of summer fun
When the fleeting storm moves on it's all over soon
As faded light emerges from somber eyes of dark
The sky now resembles a painting on curved glass--
Periwinkle on tangerine runes enticing bashful moon
June 1, 2018
Placed 3rd: Standard contest 400 by Brian Strand
Categories:
forfeiting, rain, summer, sunset,
Form:
Rhyme
When social upheaval brews chaos of nihilism,
Forfeiting moral values, embracing skepticism;
Instability ensues, clamoring in emptiness,
Believing world is futile, life is meaningless,
As broken norms shout, voicing nothingness
From souls alienated by misplaced intellect,
Mislaid by thoughts, vacuous and mindless.
Barren is the landscape of infertile minds
Dislocated in grip of meltdown and melancholy,
Preferring to host anarchy, disharmony,
Abandoning the virtues of reason, and logic,
Rejecting bliss and benevolence of empathy,
As gloomy clouds of disengagements form
Roiling hearts in intense emotional storms.
When disorder harbors indignity, incivility,
Misery and despair lead to destructive society,
As lost, worn-out souls wander unfulfilled,
Rudderless, in angst of hollowness within,
Aching for love-lost in fractured relationships
Navigating purposeless-digressions adrift,
Going nowhere, hovering over pit of abyss;
Until from consciousness cogent voice speaks,
Enlightened by guidance of wisdom satori,
Harkening back to yore, of inspiring dawns,
Blossoming-seasons of resplendent bygones,
Reminding~ back then, how tranquil life was;
Empowering now to banish reign of anomie,
Exiting tenebrous clouds, shrouding sanity,
Traversing back to abode of grace and unity,
With compass-benevolent of love, and divinity.
Categories:
forfeiting, community, perspective,
Form:
Free verse
Darn! The wind is back with a vengeance.
Its howling,
making the trees and grasses become its instrument.
Gusts to 40 mph they say; I believe it.
But the sky is so blue and the clouds are illuminated from within.
Today the wind is so strong that I can smell the pine scent from the mountains —
from the mountains where his ashes swirl.
He lifts my hair and whirls it around my face, and in the scent on the wind
I am awash with cleanness.
The tune he plays as he surrounds my body is one of memories, and greeting.
The wind slowly becomes more gentle;
caressing now; touching me in a more loving way.
Exploring with long cool fingers, around, reaching under my clothing,
becoming intimate.
Forfeiting his boldness, with a sigh he leaves on soft goodbyes.
Darn, the wind is gone.
Categories:
forfeiting, husband, nature, nostalgia, passion,
Form:
Bio
Specter of a Hero's Tortured
Soul
Forfeiting faith to successors to
sacrifice self for others...he
believes not in himself but his
progeny...
Eternal life and inflexible
determination prevent waning
love...his ceaseless adoration
powerful to the point of self
harm...
Unwillingness to ever relinquish
the shards of his heart...or the
memory of possible fates...
Soul scarred with unfathomable
secrets and wounds...alone and
concealed he is known to not
even himself...
Heart struggling to conquer
inner demons and loss...mind
overworked to find salvation
from hell's burning wrath...
Indescribable like smoke blown
through trees on a moonless
night...
Intricately woven to be as
substantial as the steam which
fuels his passion...
Never surrendering...never
retreating...never giving in to
any opposition...
Steadfast and valiant he will
never be
conquered...unreadable and
undecipherable...he will never
be understood...
Categories:
forfeiting, warself, self,
Form:
Seventy years ago today, brave men stormed the shores of Normandy.
They answered the call to arms to protect and defend our precious liberty.
Some didn't reach the shore - they lay cradled in the sea's cold embrace.
Blood that once stained that hallowed place is now cleansed without a trace.
Waves of courageous men struggled through that brutal, scarlet tide.
America lost precious treasure that day - alas, all too soon they died.
Men were not concerned about liberty or setting the world aright.
They thought only of protecting the comrade to their left and right.
On they charged against the foe who lobbed storms of shot and shell.
"Press on! Press on!" was their battle cry marching into hell!
The cries of maimed and wounded was heard above the din of battle.
Fearless chaplains and medics tended them midst the muskets' rattle.
What might these heroes have become had fate not dealt them so?
A teacher, a farmer, a doctor or minister? Alas, we shall never know.
They left farm, shop, school and hearth to cross the billowing sea,
Forfeiting life and limb on the Altar of Honor that others might live free!
Upon the plain above Omaha Beach lie ten thousand souls we mourn,
Who await Gabriel's clarion bugle call to rise on that triumphant morn!
Old Glory yet proudly waves due to the sacrifices these brave men made.
May the memory of their devotion to duty and bravery never, ever fade.
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
(c) 2014 All Rights Reserved
Categories:
forfeiting, hero, military,
Form:
Rhyme
A true creator of words
puts everything he's got
in poems that aren't songs;
if only music could bring them to light,
the mine that has no gold
would be found in each written word!
Some leave their wonderful dream
to pursue the bumpy road of reality;
they'll make money with their hands
by forfeiting their chance at success...
quietly slipping through the back door!
The others stay and, with a look of dismay, see them
tossing away the scepter of creativity...
every oarsman knows that oars speed the calm water!
The best minds are here, planting their seeds;
their loyalty started with the first stone
laid at its foundation, and to grow it needs
a thousand more to become a whole!
We have built the wonder of wonders,
a strong tower made of dazzling jewels;
let's add some more and they will become stars,
then this monument will have no obscure names!
Categories:
forfeiting, absence, courage, friendship, image,
Form:
Rhyme
despair
lost, incapacitated
faltering, immobilizing, forfeiting
trap, maze, tunnel, race
enduring, trusting, expecting
empowered, confident
hope
Categories:
forfeiting, dark, hope, light, lost,
Form:
Diamante