Best Fortress Poems
A forest - sunlight squeezing through the arms
uplifted by its countless ancient trees.
So fortress-like; her inner royal charms
even the time-worn traveler seldom sees.
What culture lies within? What foreign tongue
is chattered nervously by bird and beast?
What joyful hymns of revelry are sung
which, by my drawing near, in fear are ceased?
My love, those hidden parts I find unique
are those which I would most desire to know.
Dark corners which I least wish you to seek -
the very ones you need the light to show.
Though brighter are the colors from outside,
let's pledge to let no hues within us hide.
THE FORTRESS OF LOVE
Every marriage has its bumps in the road
And they can pop up at any time.
We must learn to navigate them safely
With fairness, faith and open mind.
No matter how far in your marriage you’ve gone
The highway of love has its rules.
The excitement of sex, trust and affection
Never tolerates self-serving fools.
They say marriages are made in heaven,
But so are tornadoes, lighting and thunder.
Cold hearts and hot heads never solve anything
They just destroy what we love by blunder.
Boredom, frustration, irritations and anger
Douse the spark between you and your mate.
More of the same fails to feed love’s flame
Till you wake up to find it’s too late
Human touch sustains the release of endorphins
For both the giver and receiver.
Never be afraid to hug your partner.
For the language of touch is a reliever.
Always remember to support your spouse
When times of dilemma arise.
The fortress of love will sustain your marriage
If you speak less and listen more, you’re wise.
By Tom Zart
O Lost and Weary Knight
A heavy heart has led you to this hidden grove
This fortress nestled in warm darkness
Come to me; collapse into my outstretched arms
We will fall among the tender bluebells
Rest your tired head upon my lap
And feel ... With every breath exhaled
The sorrows weighing upon your anguished brow
Disappearing ... Taking to flight on agile wings
Dissolving... into trickling rays of sunlight
I will collect each happiness we discover together
String them along, into a glimmering crown for your head
Clasp your hand in mine
Allow me ... to kiss away those cold, heavy tears
As I cradle you to sleep with gentle lullabies
While time ... Slowly fades away into nothing
And locks us eternally in our hidden fortress ...
I will give you peace, my Lost and Weary Knight
My soul finds rest in God alone,
my rock and my salvation, He -
though arrows of the devil fly,
my fortress God shall ever be.
How long will sorrows plague my days?
Curses and lies assaulting me -
my soul finds rest in God alone,
my rock and my salvation, He.
O mighty rock! In you we trust,
and in your refuge we are blessed.
We pour out hearts of praise to you -
in you alone we find our rest.
We lowborn ones are but a breath,
unknowing of our length of days.
God is our loving source of strength,
most worthy of our highest praise.
Come end of troubled earthly days,
His follower's reward shall be
to find eternal rest in God;
our rock and our salvation, He.
Meditation upon Psalm 62
Fortress
Stone by weathered cobble I build,
calloused hands ache in sweet surrender
Mortar’d affection of a coalesced consistency,
mixed and blended, bound by love’s tether
Stacking to heights of protective design
Patterned on roaming hillsides, serpentine wanderings,
Lush green fields crawl, blue sky diversions,
as song birds whistle to the day
And I sweat, my brow now drenched,
muscles pushed to horizonary boundaries,
tattered clothes sway in late afternoon breezes
Still I push on, fitting, finding, filling this need
Something so precious as glistening morning dreams,
crystalline musings, fragile bisque castings
Destined for my world, beyond battlefield dawns,
sifting serene country settings…quiet peace
The long day ends, I marvel at my accomplishment
steadfast and suited to defend in sunset flames,
turrets of observative reachings soar above
timber and heavy iron chain…gated sanctuary
Now my love you may rest…
beneath starry heavens and comet renderings,
upon your bed of satin feathered sighs as with my love,
I have built this fortress…around your heart
**I was listening to the Sting song “Fortress around your heart” and was inspired to write this one.
And for those who noticed, yes I did make up a few words, but I’ll just invoke “poetic license” in those cases : )
Forts and Castles Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Craig Cornish
Contest Judged: 10/27/2025 12:01:00 PM
( 4th Place )
Written: October 14, 2025
"Within the heart, strength gathers quietly,
and light returns to rooms once closed to it."
_ Poet
I was never shaped from stone,
yet quiet walls took root inside me;
every memory a stepping stone,
every pause a thread of strength.
Years taught me endurance
in the art of stillness…
how to let the air move freely inside
without letting it shatter me.
Time softened my edges.
Moss clung to old sorrows,
and ivy traced gentle paths.
Now I open the gate at dawn
and light drifts softly inside…
a guest I no longer fear.
Prepare your home like a fortress
For the battle’s already come.
The Fallen One’s hosts are endless,
And our world may be soon undone.
We already are surrounded.
Prepare your home like a fortress.
Don’t stand there looking astounded;
The Adversary’s merciless!
Watch what you say; be most cautious.
Hide rations behind walls and floors.
Prepare your home like a fortress.
‘Friends’ may be crashing down your doors.
Disasters, plagues, insurrections,
Or whatever may cause distress.
If you can’t escape, load your guns!
Prepare your home like a fortress.
Our God is a refuge,
an almighty tower,
our help everlasting
in every dark hour.
Although the earth trembles
and oceans may roar,
through all of our trials,
He reigns evermore.
The Lord, God Almighty is with us,
steadfast like a fortress.
Be still, and remember He is God;
exalted is He.
Come, witness the Lord's works,
He makes war to cease.
He comforts the nations,
and brings the world peace.
Though storms rage around us,
and lightning may flare,
though pestilence plague us,
He'll always be there.
The Lord, God Almighty is with us,
steadfast like a fortress.
Be still, and remember He is God;
exalted is He.
Based upon Psalm 46
May be sung to the tune of "Chariots of Fire Main Theme" by Vangelis
Mi Amigo
Flying Fortress Mi Amigo Remembrance
Mi Amigo
It happened in the year nineteen forty-four
Ten young lives from that day were with us no more
Flying a B17 bomber plane
A ten-man crew “Mi Amigo” her name
Returning from a raid over Denmark
Badly damaged and struggling back to her mark
Her radio dead and engine misfiring
The skin in tatters from all the shell firing
A nurse plane was left to guide her way home
But they lost sight in the clouds and presumed she was gone
But the pilot valiantly searched for the English coast
He needed to reach Charleston but managed Sheffield, their last post
It was just before five on that February day
Children in the Endcliffe Park with a football to play
Mi Amigo couldn’t wait, she had to come down
She spiraled and tried to land in the Park ground
The pilot he saw the children playing there
He lifted the nose and tried to climb in the air
There is a Memorial Stone in the park these days
They planted ten oak trees for the boys they couldn’t save
The boys were all American aged twenty-one to twenty-four
February Twenty Second, they were lost far from their own shore
The Pilot determined he missed the children and hit in the trees
Heroes to the parents of the children playing in that February freeze
My mother watched the plane as it struggled overhead
The engine sound and smoke from above filled them with dread
They had souvenirs made from the Perspex nose of the plane
But they are now lost like the lives of the boys that were claimed.
© Amanda Tams 2012
It was the anniversary in Feb of 10 American boys that died in a Park where I played as a child. My mother would normally have been playing there with the others, but she watched it from her sick bed at home as the plane passed yards from their roof. Although she was an eyewitness this information is from A book By D Harvey called Mi Amigo Sheffield's Flying Fortress
Matters not how much I may want to rescue you
That closed steel door I cannot walk through
Outside the door feet planted firmly on the ground
Knocking every so gently trying not to pound
But everytime my knuckles on the door they tap
Stinging fire flies out and my face is slapped
Through the pain I can hear your plaintiff calling
For something to save you from further falling
So to my purpose I try bravely to stay true
Attempting to find a path to get through
To figure out a way in which my spirit can fly
Over walls of brick so tall they touch the sky
A prisoner within chained by ego, pain and guilt
There I can see the Fortress you've built
Out of the windows fire of anger consumes
Any real healing touch you continue to refuse
Because the rescue does not come totally free
Only you have the power to open the door and choose to believe
"Can't and won't take the risk you say
Of the sorrow you'd feel when it all blows away
Denying that you must search deep down inside
Beyond your walls and utterly foolish pride
You can keep decorating the walls as long as you like
And continue convincing yourself it's your lot in life
And when the spirits that be send you a sign
Crush it with cruelty and continue to resign
To the anger that keeps reaching out with a fire that burns
Against a true spirit whose soul only yearns
For nothing more than to grant your wish
Of inner peace and true love sealed with a kiss
But all the angry fire steals my strength
Taking my sensitive spirit to it's very length
My failure then scars my heart truly bad
That after the pain I become so very sad
Once able to see through my heartfelt tears
I know it so well and can feel all your fears
If only my love spirit I wish for you to see
How I offer all I have to you so humbly
Because even after the faeries come carry me away
The gift I give to you is to ease your dismay
No intent to cause pain or wreak havoc in your heart
Just only for you to escape the lonely part
Simple and free with no evil involved
"First" you say. "So many issues to resolve"
The walls of brick you've built over time
Seems like an eternity they would take to climb
When all along if you so choose
With a blink of an eye and not a moment to lose
It's been a matter of your choice to reach beyond
Those walls of protection to which you've grown so fond
........Cont'd in Part II
barren palisade
horned rams prance rocky redoubt
wolf pack scales rampart
Fortress
built to protect
designed to keep us safe
But, what if we are the danger
Prison
From heaven to earth, my gift is yours,
I wish to share my strength, my authority.
As I chase, your graceful presence,
your heart echoes, deep in my wanting soul.
My arms are open, to keep you safe,
no pain or fear, shall ever come your way.
you will always know, my love for you,
for I will protect your soul, with my truth.
I will be your shield and fortress,
in you, is my love designed.
I will be your lifelong friend, forever,
and stand by your side, through all life's trials.
This Oath is my love, to give you peace,
its sealed in blood, for the heavens to see.
Then when you open your heart,
my love is there, to forever be your
fortress of life.
Dangers pass by me
The enemy fled away
In my fortress, saved
My Home Is No Fortress
Speechless thoughts flow out as words when the drawbridge is upended
From turrets they wind down and spiral into a stream of consciousness
Gently wind to and fro processions of images narratives a dreamy river
Drought happens as I resort to the keep when beleaguered by onslaught
of foes breaking barbicans collapsing foreign walls in the most barbarian way
Crowded rampage seizes ramparts and bulwarks of my own defences
Baileys and mounts scream battle cries of injustice injured in ignorance
Thus I decide there’s no longer a need for arrow loops since my truths
reject the heart ache of anger and would much rather be conquered by love
I conclude therefore to raise spiky stakes portcullises and misconceptions
and suppose that it is not me who built their house on evaporation and sand
When my thoughts slide up and down buttresses and find their words
vulnerable projections dissolve and my home is once more a wide open space
16th November