Best Grebes Poems
Johnny-Jump-Ups nestle into the forest floor mosses,
Along with dainty Jack-in-the-Pulpits hiding beneath
The larger fronds of swampy ferns soaking up moisture
From the dew-laden flowering branches of laurel
Where I find myself dreaming in the verdant woodland,
Edging the meadow beyond the cluttered beaver stand.
A canopy of vine-entangled branches, a vault-like nave,
Provides a sanctuary of sacred candles dimmed for mass
A pew-less haven for wounded souls, and tiny chipmunks,
Who scurry to find isolated spots for quiet meditation
While grebes and gallinules make up the choir ensemble;
A purple swamphen takes up the guttural baritone line.
The late morning is mine, sitting along the narrow trail
In a cross-legged yoga pose with arms across my knees,
Soaking up the faint sweet smells of sassafras and pine
And slipping into what I sometimes call my “blue funk”
Where nothing on earth matters outside this quiet shelter,
Dozing softly, I dream of a utopian sweet, elusive peace.
FIRST PLACE WINNER (TROPHY)
June 25, 2022
Submitted to: "Poetry Marathon Mile 5" Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Mark Toney
Written on June 3, 2021
Selected for FEATURED POEM
On the front page of All Poetry,
September 13, 2021
GOLD MEDAL WINNER
"5 Golds or Less - Profanisaurus" Poetry Contest
All Poetry, December 11, 2021
Appeared in "It's Still Poetry"
Poetry Soup Anthology - 2021
CreateSpace, Amazon publication
Categories:
grebes, inspirational, nature, paradise, peace,
Form:
Blank verse
Sacred Lake Titicaca
High atop the Andes, between Bolivia and Peru,
sits the birthplace of the Incas, sacred Lake Titicaca.
A powerhouse of nature through and through,
it was created by the Inca god of the lake, Viracocha.
A treetop view showcases unique flora and fauna that abound,
from llamas to fresh water snails dozing in the sun;
rainbow trout and other colorful fish are found
as sunlight reflects golden on the lake’s horizon.
Flocks of snowy egrets among the rare totora reed
share this natural habitat with slate-gray Andean coots,
snowy egrets, and white-tufted grebes diving for feed,
while parrots scratch their heads perched on mangrove roots.
Sounds of nature overcome the silence of twilight,
as huge water frogs on lily pads croak their lullabies.
The black-crowned night heron forages in the dying light,
and gloomy catfish float underground for a tasty prize.
Incas believed that when their time on earth was done,
the mystical clear blue water was a portal to the stars,
and into the depths of Titicaca, their spirits would return,
to reunite with their gods and venerable ancestors.
05-25-2017
Categories:
grebes, beauty, mountains, nature, water,
Form:
Rhyme
Tiny wavelets on the pool today, a gentle
breeze and raindrops fall with a rhythmic
pitter patter. The ducks and wildfowl pay
no heed, around the sedge bob and feed.
The Heron standing as if frozen, his
cunning eye a prey has chosen. And the
elegant Swan glides, the Cormorant
beneath the water slides. And the grey
clouds float on by on this quiet day at the
pool, the reeds sway and insects hide away,
dry wings are required to survive. The Otter
on its back dines on an unlucky Crayfish,
seems well at ease with his surrounds, and
the Water Vole enters a hole to the squeak
of hungry mouths. In the centre of the pool
a love dance, two Crested Grebes court,
ducking, bobbing, all magic to the eye. All
this beauty in the pitter patter, life goes on
it does not matter. Nature gives in many
ways, and as always this heart enslaves.
Categories:
grebes, naturewater, water,
Form:
Imagism
grebes run on the lake
love has its playful moments -
pleasure with winged feet
* grebes - freshwater birds
Categories:
grebes, metaphor, nature, water,
Form:
Haiku
I stare at the world through slats in the blind
Which are partly obscuring the dazzle at times
There's nothing particular to spot there today
As even the birds seem to have all flown away
But once in a while a tractor growls down the track
Hauling a jangling old plough or a planter at back
Then later the post van is speeding here with the bills
Soon I watch our Postie get in and out of the chills
In past times we chatted when the dogs were inside
But now I'm in here while they bark out their pride
He'll stop at one house though and sample some tea
But there's nowt going on - it's his sister you see
Just across the river in the giant glass houses there
All trays have been cleaned and stacked with such care
Not much more to do now for a good month or two
Soon be time for their rest in the warmth of Corfu
Not far from their place is a great old machine yard
See bright yellow lorries sport scuffs where they sparred
With anything that didn't yield to their determined path
'Another post over' you may hear their drivers laugh
A few hundred yards more just out of sight on the bend
Is a specialist scrap yard with old machines that they mend
And sell back to farmers for much less than when new
In these cash strapped times there's a few more in view
When times past we ambled my old dog Griff and I
Some walls were crumbling and I thought they might try
To patch up or rebuild them but still they survive
If they fell in a high wind it would be no great surprise
At the jetty quite near there is a boat on the Glen
A spot where a while since I fed our ducks and their friend
The swans have moved on now and the grebes cannot be seen
For the best pickings have gone though the waters still green
It's time for a drink now so maybe I'll potter off to
The kitchen where there is much less of a view
Some soup and a sandwich will be nice I do think
Just as soon as I've washed all the pots in the sink...
©Rhumour
October 6th 2008
Edit February 2016
(Note: this edited version is different from that in the paperback 'Rhumour Has It'
Categories:
grebes, life, poems,
Form:
Rhyme
The Ruba’iyat of Créteil Lake – Part Fourteen
Even sea-gulls mistake this lavish lap of water for sea
All day long their cries betray their delusion so eerie
Circling and swooping and settling on her deranged graces
Coming in with wild winds this day dismal and dreary
Cannon fire: a shot? Pigeons by the dozens take wing
Atlantic sea-gulls shriek and circle above her hovering
A squadron of bernache cravant takes to the air trumpeting
The alert blares loud: the Lady of the Lake is whimpering:
“Murder!” “Vile iniquitous act!” proclaim madly hopping crows
Shriek hell upon her tummy in motion: “Everybody knows!”
Grebes and coots dive to bring up the truth: “Dark purple poison!”
Behind tinted glasses Men of Paperasserie in throes.
Enticed inveigled lured to her fallen tripped entrapment
Her cervical and lumbar discs verily out of joint
No many-splendoured rays of the rising and setting sun
Reflect the rhododendron dews of her irises glint
Only the lone Bard of Nishapur hears her anguished quails:
“They see not the heinous hurt of the hills dug into dales
Nor drink they pure geothermal juices of the guts of the earth:
Here must I lie die till Sister Seine flows into my entrails!”
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2013
Categories:
grebes, allegory,
Form:
Dramatic Verse
elephants dreaming of orange shaped fish
cornflowers surfing down pickle strewn paths
great crested grebes with thorns in their hooves
suitcases drunk in a queue for a stamp
bottles of trousers with books on their heads
welders in carpets abstaining from plugs
books in a curry with no one to flush
my dream is now over
so tell no one,,,hush
Categories:
grebes, confusion
Form:
The Ruba’iyat of Créteil Lake – Part Five
All day she toiled to keep her knees and busts in position
The Mairie’s serrated metal-hearted spool of derision
And the glinting fly-eye cutaways of the Prefecture
She who must mind her own onions during dutiful mission:
Let school-children slap her lolling belly with oars’ un-silence
Let schools of swan swipe and furrow her concupiscence
Let darting coots and grebes play hide and seek in eddying depths
And let cyclists and dogged runners trample her dire patience
And when the day’s work at last done prepares the earned shower
Lo! a canopy as dark and dense as the Afro bowler
Pulls the shroud down on her: dismal soot round the white of eye
Resplendent sings the gilded orange band: sunsets in clover
Restless parent coots cleave the face on the dream-lidded Lady’s
Surge with rage to ward off stray swans from their young amidst
reeds
During some purdah couples’ chance of enlacement in the dark
And the long breathless night returns to her adenoids
She dreams the dreams of precious princesses warding off demons
Her dreams fester in her clasp and spiral up to heavens
In musk infused melodious gestures buoyed on lotuses
Release streams of ruby wines from lutes strum by virgin maidens!
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2013
Categories:
grebes, dream,
Form:
Quatrain
Escapism beside the water’s edge, as misty dawn awakes
Great crested grebes, dressed to impress, elegantly pass me by ~
I took the bait – gullibly distracted from encroaching on their morning feast.
15.10.19
F F I series 29 sijo - Brian Strand
Categories:
grebes, bird, fishing, nature,
Form:
Sijo
Teal waves sway slowly
Bracing cool flowers lily;
Floating on a fresh lily pad
Relishes a cute little toad;
Angels dance near the edges
Oh! white reeds frame hedges;
Amidst this serene surreal place
Buoy the tiny bonny boats
Follow them tiniest cotton floats
Leaving a good long water trail
But how do these little ships sail?
O! It's the groovy grebes family
While watching them swim
Worldly problems dim
Make me outreach my land dream
Feb 20 2022
Categories:
grebes, animal, beautiful, bird,
Form:
Rhyme
With the river finally free
the birders in their migration
collect along the shore
lost loves and memories
as not a duck is to be seen
not knowing better it would seem
that spring is missing something
MISSING:
Hooded Mergansers
Common mergansers
Red-Breasted Mergansers
Buffleheads
Common Goldeneyes
Barrow's Goldeneyes
Ringneck Ducks
Blue Winged Teals
Northern Shovelers
American Black Ducks
Wood Ducks
Pied Billed Grebes...
Please call if seen
***
Categories:
grebes, bird, loss, sad, spring,
Form:
Free verse
Worshipping in Nature's Sanctuary
by L. Milton Hankins
Johnny-Jump-Ups nestle into the forest floor mosses,
Along with dainty Jack-in-the-Pulpits hiding beneath
The larger fronds of swampy ferns soaking up moisture
From the dew-laden flowering branches of laurel
Where I find myself dreaming in the verdant woodland,
Edging the meadow beyond the cluttered beaver stand.
A canopy of vine-entangled branches, a vault-like nave,
Provides a sanctuary of sacred candles dimmed for mass
A pew-less haven for wounded souls, and tiny chipmunks,
Who scurry to find isolated spots for quiet meditation
While grebes and gallinules make up the choir ensemble;
A purple swamphen takes up the guttural baritone line.
The late morning is mine, sitting along the narrow trail
In a cross-legged yoga pose with arms across my knees,
Soaking up the faint sweet smells of sassafras and pine
And slipping into what I sometimes call my “blue funk”
Where nothing on earth matters outside this quiet shelter,
Dozing softly, I dream of a utopian sweet, elusive peace.
Submitted to the In Honor Of Milt - An Un-Contest Poetry Contest
sponsored by Andrea Dietrich
Of the many poems composed by Milt, this one remains one of my favorites. Milt was a spiritual man, and this side of him often came out in his poems. Here he impresses upon the reader the haven of peace that nature can provide, in this case likened to a church sanctuary. He carefully weaves the imagery of one into the other with his word choices: nave, sanctuary, sacred candles, pew-less haven, meditation, and the choir references. His influence upon my writing is to seek images and metaphors from nature to help describe spiritual concepts in language that is readily accessible. I am grateful for Milt's life, poetry, and encouragement, and he will long be remembered.
Categories:
grebes, nature, spiritual,
Form:
Blank verse
Swallows wings summer brings
Gentle breeze the bluebell rings
Sunflowers heads turn with ease
Dip their frame and kiss the bees
The pool is calm, but for gentle rise
All was peace before my eyes
Flower to flower the butterfly
A feast of life from earth to sky
Stealth the heron stalked the fry
Step by step with poachers eye
Kingfisher a blue and orange flash
Breaks the water without a splash
Warbler's jump from reed to reed
Grebes dived with chicks to feed
Midge's danced in time with sedge
A poet dreams at the waters edge
The evening sun the swallows bring
Across the pool they dip their wings
Light surrenders the moon it peeps
All was blessed as my pen it sleeps
Poet's write with coloured ink
Dare to say what others think
Visions born will come of age
All things seen to dance the page
Categories:
grebes, nature
Form:
List
Autumn again enters stage right and makes her colorful debut.
Lacy leaves brighten the days with gold and vermilion hue.
Summer leaves that once graced stately maple and aspen trees,
Are now swept along in eddies by the gentle autumn breeze!
Subtle breezes ripple the waters upon which sprightly grebes cavort.
Migrating geese stop for a visit at my pond finding a welcome port.
Squirrels scurry about with much ado collecting their winter fare;
Their bushy tails waving delicately with each gusty breath of air!
A scent so pleasant carried by a wafting zephyr placidly weaves,
About the neighborhood with the aroma of burning leaves.
Children scatter leaves Dad has raked into an inviting pile.
He cares not, recalling childhood autumn days with a knowing smile!
The sun begins to make a shorter arc each passing autumn day,
Sinking behind the mountains with a spectacular sunset display.
A magnificent harvest moon, that eternal ruler of the night,
Provides mellow ambience as it traverses its nocturnal flight!
A cooler breeze now begins to kiss my summer-tanned cheeks.
This morning I saw a dusting of snow on yonder mountain peaks.
The seasons hasten on, another glorious autumn is passing by.
Gentle autumn breezes bow out as winter gales and snow begin to fly!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
Categories:
grebes, seasonswinter, autumn, snow, autumn,
Form:
Rhyme
*********
the light of all life
sol...illuminating all
false statement
false statement
sol...illuminating all
the light of all life
distant horizons
the edge of the world
guarded by retards
guarded by retards
the edge of the world
distant horizons
the world is a disc
you did not know... some say so
a globe... NASA lies
a globe... NASA lies
you did not know... some say so
the world is a disc
the world... a globe
twenty-eighteen... come on guys...
help save it
help save it
twenty-eighteen... come on guys..
the world... a globe
a thrush is singing
check which one... a mistle thrush
stormcock... a warning
hark... the bittern booms
great crested grebes... water walk
treecreeper... ivy
treecreeper... ivy
great crested grebes... water walk
hark... the bittern booms
i walk the moon
i take its lead... i'm dreaming...
beneath the stars
beneath the stars
i take its lead... i'm dreaming
i walk the moon
nature asks a friend
do ask the human race why...
a mockingbird
a mockingbird
do ask the human race why...
nature asks a friend
************** UNSUPPORTED CODE
Categories:
grebes, nature,
Form:
Haiku