Best Gash Poems
'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'
Were I to be more truthful, and less kind
Once fair, your hair now more consumed by gray
Your dewy luster I struggle to find
As weighted toll of years fills in your frame
And roses on your cheeks falter and fade
I can not say if it is age I blame
Or from the fall of youth, a cynic's made
Is it my eyes too blighted to recall
The fragile beauty your face once possessed
No large gash dealt, only dying in small
Moments I turned away from your caress
Unwatered, our garden lies bleak and spent
Winter coating the stems where summers went.
5/14/21
I keep coming back
as if, one day, I'll find
the illusive angle,
that moment of perfect alignment
when the river, the clouds,
the trees and all
that is manifested
will break open and reveal
what is really there,
when what holds everything
together ruptures
and spills forth the sublime.
I get a sense of it sometimes
at dawn when the sun
breaks through the clouds
in a blinding burst of light
and in the quiet of evenings
when a birdsong pierces
the forest with sound so pure
it seems to open a gash
in time before closing
over in a sad covering
of silence. I am granted
only glimpses as if more
would be too much
for me, composed as I am
of stuff made of this world,
its blunt chemistry.
Stranded in this place
I cannot recognize
Abandoned and lonely
No one hears my cries
AS i walk through this wasteland
Of wilderness and desolation
I am consumed with anguish
I walk this road with hesitation
On every turn that i come upon
The is more pain than at the last turn
Agony and torment spews from my pores
With every step i take more pain i earn
Until i am enveloped with grief
Buried alive on my feet
Dirt in my eyes,nose,mouth,and lungs
I throw up my flag of defeat
Each painful blow leaves behind a deep gash
That is constantly reopened never able to heal
Infection has now set into my heart
Slashes and scars on my body reveals the detail
Of the despair embedded deep in my soul
That tells a tale of a soul so lost
A soul wandering through this wilderness
A tale of what being born black cost
Blood surges through the deep gash in his armor
while the brave knight writhes in pain and cries in anguish.
The battle is over now and the knight drops hard to the ground
knowing that his life force is ebbing and his strength is waning.
With the battle finished the knight begins his final fight
with Death in his inevitable glory and result.
The knight’s blood now slows to a quiet trickle like blood tears
while key moments in his life flash before him lightening quick.
The knight finds his comfort in love of family and country;
this is a moment of solace as his body tightens in Death’s grip.
His blood now seeps into the ground itself and his breathing grows shallow,
and twilight moves to darkness in the knight’s final conscious thought.
The knight murmurs: fighting, war, and duty to my king have been my life,
but now I must take leave of this mortal coil.
With that Death takes the Knight’s mortal body and the hand of God carries
his heavenly soul to everlasting eternity.
Gary Bateman, Copyright © All Rights Reserved (September 9, 2014) (Distich or Unrhymed Couplet)
Misleading, minacious maze now thwarted,
eschews stealth as sandal-clad steps resound.
Determined and dour, destiny draws near;
completing this quest: forever renowned.
Stygian sky grants a much-welcomed boon:
conformable clouds cast curtain aside.
A radiant pearl suspended aloft,
reveals route to where foul fiend does reside.
Mouthing prayers to a personal angel;
supplication: salient and silent.
Head held high, eyes fixed firmly on heaven;
bless these dark deeds, bloody and violent.
Sharpened silvern sword raised proudly aloft;
unblemished blade mirrors midnight’s moon-light.
Utters an oath sworn at parents’ graveside;
tonight sees the zenith of a birthright.
Shrieks fill the air, inhuman and hungry;
hero’s hammering heart reaches its peak.
Fear is just fleeting, for foe has arrived;
savage beast attacks with claw and with beak.
Garden’s guardian inflicts ghastly gash;
‘tis nary a scratch for warrior’s might.
Unyielding weapon wielded with such flair
finally - fatally - settles the fight.
Chimera confronted, cowed and conquered;
tales of this victory regaled forthwith.
A marble mosaic marvel beckons
and once-true events pass straight into myth.
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February 2017
An apology for any students (or masters) of classical mythology. I’ve used a fair bit of poetic licence with the events leading to the death of the Chimera... but I was raised on a diet of Ray Harryhausen and this was my homage to his creature features!
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Written for the “Chimera World” contest sponsored by Nayda Ivette Negron - Eighth Place. The following restrictions applied:
“1 original poem that uses the following words: mosaic, maze, moon, guardian, garden, angel, heaven, heart, midnight and clouds.”
Black softness nestles in his sheen so fab
as warm purrs vibrate his feline aura
Gash-like, a red neck-sash swings a gleaming
heart-shaped pendant, swaying a dangled flash.
Ebon stretches as the midnight creature
elongating his compacted frame, lithe.
Reaching, he uncurls a bounding jaguar
awake to the moon’s abracadabra
(10/31/2019: For my Halloween companion in tonight's sickle moon)
"The Big Guns"
A woman goes into war
with the matrimony of
Life and Death
a wound left empty
a gash pushing up
daisies where bleeding
seeds don’t bloom no more
So love puts the big guns
in her hands, bullets loaded
from the mind hell bent
on breaking the walls
caught in the sticky web
of that black lettered Perdition
Naked I came
from my mother’s womb
And naked I shall return
what’s given is taken away
the loss irretrievable
opens a new road home
Gangster all the way
On the run
with the Big Guns
Misery be gone
Love’s a racketeering assassin
cutting losses, risking what remains
on a final heist to be won
“Sometimes Losers
are Winners,” She grinned
“You are holding
the Big Gun”
Hands on the wheel
Silver Lady is driving Blue Sky
his head turned, smiling
towards the burning Sun
An alternative beginning
long way to the end.
First,
Some adventure,
First,
Some Fun.
(LadyLabyrinth / 2020)
“Bang Bang Bang”/Dorothy
https://youtu.be/8Hi7Z8MK9t0
artiste: Gabe Leonard
"Keep Moving"
The truth leaks out
Standing there like a frail child
Taking the hands of the elder
Looking through the glass of lonesome
And seeing what rings real
Seeing what feels true
This gash in my heart mends
At the thought of you
But it never truly heals
Stranded in the wasteland of my mind
Brushed by burning cold winds
I fear there are no blinds over you
I fear you will see it
The flaws
The very flaws I use to stitch myself
Locked up inside all of these years
Shadows ready to be freed
Only to be followed by greed
The skies have lost all color
Through the stitching
Truth bleeds
Truth hurts so bad
The truth is I love you
But why am I so sad?
I can't say a word
My feet are firmly planted on larvae
They slowly eat me away
Hoping I will be gone in time
Before you see
Before you see the truth
I don't want you to see
Perhaps if you only knew
That I love you
Perhaps you wouldn't have to open your eyes
Medication paused a day
the balm of urge then delayed
with a will to live without
if only for the briefest time
until the need comes again
sight unseen to other folks
yet more present than concerns
voiced for the abstinence
when that fix to ease the pain
sometimes a scratch or bloody gash
demands more than platitudes
even as they fill the void
between damnation and relief
the intermission feeds a hope
somewhere past the curative
is a life of more control.
Those Slithering Serpents Of World's Hidden Abyss
Through pleasant meadows they slither and soft hiss
pushing down nubile flowers as they go
they of dark, giver of serpentine kiss,
sowers of blackest curse that hatred grows,
a malignant force, masquerading as Light
of corruptible hearts, beasts out of sight!
Lying in wait in fields of verdant grass
with long razor sharp teeth so quick to bite
seeking to inflict pain as victims pass,
secure in deceit, monsters of night,
a malignant force, masquerading as Light
of corruptible hearts, beasts out of sight!
Within deep shadows they dance, curse and play
waiting for another target to slash
full of darkness, fearful of light of day,
with blades of hate, cutting a bloody gash,
a malignant force, masquerading as Light
of corruptible hearts, beasts out of sight!
Through pleasant meadows they slither and soft hiss
pushing down nubile flowers as they go
they of dark, giver of serpentine kiss,
sowers of blackest curse that hatred grows,
a malignant force, masquerading as Light
of corruptible hearts, beasts out of sight!
Robert J. Lindley, 2-19-2020
Rhyme, ( The Dark Disciples Of World's Cancerous Decrees )
Note: A poetic summation of those people that seek to
spread misery, pain, sorrow and injure others by way
of unwarranted attacks upon unsuspecting poetic souls.
Serpents that live to injure others that they decide
to harm due to their own insecurity, hatred, and/or
ill-born and unfounded jealouses.
May God forgive, (because for now) I am fresh out of that tender fruit
myself.
( Que Dios perdone, ya que estoy recién salido de ese
tierno fruto yo mismo. )
She was left alone
Standing in the rain
Even though it’s not shown
She’s filled with nothing but pain.
He was supposed to be with her
They were supposed to have a date
He was going to propose to her
But he couldn’t escape his fate.
What’s she to do now?
He was her everything
To him, she made a vow
In her heart, he’s the only king.
He did everything for her
Not caring if their parents opposed
He just wants to be with her forever
To other girls, his heart is closed
Her life began because of him
She just realized life’s neither fair nor fun
How to go on without him?
what now that he's gone?
His memories started with her
But it ended in just a flash
What of now and forever?
He only left her heart a gash
They both loved each other deeply
What will happen now that they’re not together?
An obvious answer came to me
Juliet would immediately go after Romeo.?
Lovely, you’re lovely—
Your heart is full of lovely.
You are growing within my life;
All without of you just pines.
My lovely, my inward gash before others recoils so tight—
Only you can veil my heart in your lovely sight.
Your known Rosetta failed my dark—
Colored you instead on every scar.
Rending is the undone kiss—
Left, in the pain, alone this.
For the chains I’m bracing under this mask—
Please, save me forever, please stay, please last.
My snarling flash drive
numbed my approach
as I drove fifty clicks
into the morning, still dark.
I did obeisance
to my tyrannical inbox,
it showed no mercy
to either side of the screen.
Everyone had an axe to grind,
not least of all me,
but the futureless kid at the traffic lights
would probably have settled for a pie.
I shovelled some cholesterol
into the gash in my face
and chased it down with coffee,
strong as the strongman
from the travelling circus,
I can't drink it any other way.
Much grinding of axes continued,
some of it by me,
but the forgotten old man at the traffic lights
may have settled for a pie.
My inbox, by late afternoon,
was plainly laughing at me,
and obeisance continued
on both sides of the screen.
As I drove fifty clicks
into the evening, now dark,
my snarling flash drive
hypnotised my retreat.
1st August 2018
A withered and separated flower lay squashed in bent stature.The wind silently erodes the remaining petals sequentially, with each pulse of the air.
A distant nightmare, tangibly manifested, the echoing warning from the past.
A trapped piece of newspaper married to a low-lying hedge branch, concealed from notice, dead from purpose.
An hourglass society, scuttling around in organized vice and engineered hypocrisy with time to dictate and money to distract.
A plague of opinions in this boundless possibility never reaching bedrock. A gash made upon the earth, a slow
puncture untreated in our hourglass existence we believe isn’t moving.
Think I need a husband
Perhaps you empathise
A miracle may happen…
The sun each day will rise.
Dreams and wishes do come true;
One day they will for me
Wish I had a husband now
To make a pot of tea.
I think I need a husband
To rock me off to sleep
I think I need a husband
And one which I can keep.
I think I need a husband
may buy him from a shop
I’d like to have a husband;
One which will not flop.
You know now what I’m thinking
For words I here do write
Be great to have a husband
For everyday and night!
From sky he may come falling;
May have a little crash
Then he’d know he’d need a wife-
To bandaid up his gash.