Best Growth Poems
Sunlight rains upon my face
Cascading memories cloaked in mystery
Kissing my eyelids
Ancient teardrops glide down my cheeks
Warmth illuminating my hungry soul
A sense of calm
A pulsating ellipse emerges before me
I dive into the magenta abyss
Releasing my wounded heart from its cage
Fear resides
Primal vibrations guide me
Becoming one with galaxies and starlight
My limbs relax
I flow ~ I undulate
I swim in the warmth of the universe
Time and space have become me and I them
Perched on a massive salt-stained boulder
Gazing towards the briny distance
Shades of White
A passionate brushstroke across the horizon
Sky and sea in a lover’s embrace
Caw .... caw ..... caw....
I feel you beckon me
Swallowing the sweet pit of truth
Nudged by a warm gust
I look down seeing the bundle
cradled in my arms
Your endless gaze speaks lifetimes of wisdom
Birth, struggle, bliss, challenge, and death
I watch you intently readying yourself
to pounce upon your unsuspecting prey
Riding this timeline of life
Together as one
Tick tock
Forward backward
Inward to the beating center of creation
Young one I see your sage reflection
In my gilded hand mirror
Me here and you there
Your smiling eyes
Tearing at my core
Come float with me
In sheer turquoise splendor
Adorned with seaweed crowns and abalone jewels
Rays of light penetrate the watery depths
Colonies of majestic stingrays hover nearby
Welcoming us to join their scared dance forevermore
Once I'm gone
I'll only be remembered a small while
I'm a tiny tick on a large dial
The words I breathe will stretch about a mile
Even those who are in history books
the Kings writers and famous cooks
The gorgeous people with talent and looks
They too in the end fade away
Don't get me wrong it's all okay
We might try to hold on but none of us can stay
All have a bit part
on this watery ball of granite and clay
Some are calm others make waves
One smooth skinned another shaves
She loves him while he's attracted to Dave
They both pretend because they have to behave
Each in their own prison living like a slave
The preacher too plays his part
trying to find people to save
Some couples love from the start till death
She breathes in he exhales her breath
Their children thrive Bobby and Beth
While some mothers go it alone
Daddies leave and are never known
Children left to learn life from a smart phone
Some chase riches when other just want to eat
Walking on pretty shoes while poor men have cracked feet
The music plays so clearly yet we fail to hear the beat
So I wonder what's it all for
This wanting more and more
Is that really God knocking at our door
Yes it is I believe it at my core
So why do we leave it closed
Maybe because we fear our sins will be exposed
a life manicured and posed
could be unfroze
Freedom from each prison chose
Instead why not drink from the garden hose
Wear our humanity
discard these labeled clothes
Count down the future with fingers and toes
Within a momentary breath each spirit goes
As minds open each heart then grows
What happens next only God knows!
She rests beneath her willow’s weeping rain,
As autumn strips them bare behind its theft;
Of slender leaves and tears, they stand bereft,
Yet sorrow, like the wind, begins to wane.
For all that falls to earth won't fall in vain,
And what escapes our sight has not yet left;
Though heavy hearts must carry now this heft,
It's how we know what’s lost to still remain.
And from the tears, the grieving willow weeps,
Its twigs and leaves descend to softened ground,
Reclaimed by earth and soil from which they grew.
For all that's ever buried merely sleeps,
And what we mourn as lost again is found,
When spring returns, and life begins anew.
Wild spirit -
I cherished you tender
within my halo of prana;
careful not to hurt you
as I worked to set you free
using hands of peace
in harmony
with my heart's song
I beheld your fragile form
of freedom lost
as your panicked eyes
pleaded release..
and in those precious
and few sacred moments
I felt you relinquish
your fight or flight
to my mission of mildness...
a unifying lesson of love
befell us that day
as we exchanged gifts -
and when again you flew
through reflective silvery winds
on turquoise wings anew
we elevated in mindful mercy
to compassionate heights
in revered reverberations...
gratified to be reborn
in your new found freedom
Susan Ashley
October 7, 2018
Sometimes you have to let
the morning have its way,
set out its wide sunlit spaces
like a tablecloth upon your silence,
speak to you softly in the sound
of leaves, bright with the flush
of spring. There is much to tell,
the stories of its winter dreaming,
waking to a warming sun,
desires erupting in flower
and fruit.
As a child I listened
to the almond trees clack
their naked limbs all winter long
until late august when the first
blossoms broke into the chilly air
with their white whispers
and perfumed breath hushed out
of pink throats. It was my eucharist,
trees donning their green vestments
plump with promises.
I must make space in myself
to receive the sacraments of creation,
have a reverence for what comes
forth to speak a name
in all that is born, lives and dies
and reflects a beauty
to which I can be blind to
in the bloat of myself.
Love is not a color,
No hue, neither a race.
All of our blood is the same,
That runs deep within our veins.
If we could lift up each other,
And know that we all care.
If we help our sisters and brothers,
There's a bond that we'll share.
©2013 Honestly JT
I witness you fading away,
The winds blow frantically
They are against us, as all are
Little fire, rise in my cupped hands
Be it my life I shield from the elements so unfeeling?
Little fire, brighten as I feed you
This moisture receding from my pores must cease
Before I drown this diminishing beauty
I gasp,
Surprised at the howls and retorts of this icy tempest
Nature’s exhalations mean to end what must naturally end
My hands shake
Little fire—my life!
—I must keep you alive!
Grow against all odds
Against the screaming whirlpools of bluster
Against the torrential tears that mean to overcome you
Against the ashes that can only watch the desolation around you,
As you search for more fuel to masticate
My flesh is no treasure to me,
So lick me deep, my flame
Devour these hands that shield you
Rise hastily, as you burn
Ascending up my arms,
Lighting every goosebump, shriveling every hair
Rise till I am all aflame in this wilderness
Boil and evaporate every murderous tear—
The fluids of sorrow that so pulverize purpose
Eat through every sinew, and every tissue,
Every muscle and every bone that has grown
For this moment and this moment only
I give you every piece of me, little fire!
So that my spirit, finally free, shall rise to the heavens
Past the shrieking winds, preceding through the jeers of thunder
I give you my all, blessed fire!
So that these eyes may witness every storm die
And I may laugh at their futility!
My mind has wings and wants to fly
into galaxies where stars streak.
Aloft on whispers and a sigh
a hint of stardust on my cheek.
Into galaxies where stars streak
aurora borealis gives me flair,
a hint of stardust on my cheek
starlit diva with solar hair.
Aurora borealis gives me flair
through cosmic currents I do swing,
starlit diva with solar hair
enjoying my celestial fling.
Through cosmic currents I do swing
aloft on whispers and a sigh,
enjoying my celestial fling
my mind has wings and wants to fly.
Susan Ashley
July 24, 2017
~ 4th Place ~
Premiere Contest: End July 2017
Sponsor: Brian Strand
As shades of grey overwhelm white clouds,
their rain tears begin to pitter and patter,
creating a pattern upon my skin.
Like a dehydrated petal, I taste their
tenderness with the tip of my tongue.
A gypsy breeze kisses my skin's shivers,
as I gaze at my muddy decaying garden -
roses look rusty, but their thorns remain.
As my eyes close in silent stillness,
I'm lost in a melancholic moment -
when I was like a vibrant spring bloom
but I wonder why my roots crumbled.
Life moves so fast,
but some of us struggle to grow.
Some images remain forgotten,
some promises remain broken,
so, I ponder what happened,
to those childhood dreams and schemes -
when the mind cared not for meaning,
only hidden treasures we would find.
How many are still searching,
how many souls are at peace?
How empty is your jar?
Reflecting upon those who arrived,
hardly any stayed - few left an impression -
most left without understanding.
Some still live within boxes of my heart,
especially those who lifted me when I fell,
but there was only a few
and I regret the ones I hurt,
forgive the ones who caused me pain,
but, I shall never forget.
We can never escape our past,
some of us will never really heal,
memories are like lost photos,
stored in a dusty album.
I awaken from my reverie,
as conkers fall at my feet, cracking their spiky shells.
A ray of light breaks from a canopy of leaves,
reflecting upon my face - I begin to a smile.
I can't recall when my bubble floated away,
but, I embrace the rain and what it brings.
I accept what the winds take with them,
because I can feel the warmth of the sun.
Become the gardener of your own life.
Welcome,
to the Soul Factory
We have cool souls,
sophisticated souls,
luxury and economy.
Choice is a matter,
of who you want to be.
Yes we ship souls,
to many exotic places.
The beauty of some souls
shine through on faces.
But that isn’t true
in a few cases
Still our souls fit,
into big and small spaces.
We offer young souls
and old souls.
Some souls refurbished
with extra hot coals.
Each soul’s prepared,
to play different roles.
Some kind,
some cruel,
others may play the fool.
Uncontrollable souls,
might not follow the Golden Rule
If you are lucky
you’ll find inner peace
Those souls are mostly
shipped to the east
They know more,
even though they have the least
Somehow mindfulness,
calms their inner beast.
They are content
during famine and feast
Once selected,
just wait and see,
if your soul will make history.
Unfortunately we can’t promise,
there’s no guarantee,
some souls prefer obscurity.
Others seem to thrive on inner misery.
They may not match,
your life expectancy
Either way traveler,
you get what you choose,
there’s a no return policy,
here at the Soul Factory!
For Caren’s What would you make if you had a factory contest.
What seems now old
Used to be utterly new
What was previously told
We cease to over chew
*****
All that is old hold a treasure
If only we all knew
Just weigh and measure
Under the veil a unique hue
*****
Out of memories we grow
Been taught lessons to the bone
We do reap all that we sow
And for wrongdoing we atone
*****
Pleasure and pain what we gain
In a life not taken for granted
Who can stop time or rinse rain
Or suppress anger that should be vented
*****
Life will continue to hurt and heal
Vomit its villains to mould the meek
Send its saints to instill ardency and zeal
Never always the ones at the wheel
*****
Deeply inside my prayers I recite
To always endurance and faith embrace
Be human of worth, decent and upright
And paths that stain never retrace
*****
A great depth of gratitude to God we owe
For both strength and forbearance
For age that vigorously flow
And for the gift of Love in abundance
*****
An abiding passion for her Majesty the word
Delving into my smile and feel would draw
The music of heart in verse softly whirred
My poetic human soul imbued with awe.
The heart when young, so blissful and knows no sin
the mind's ego knows no bounds, its strength within
The earth, sound and steep, its fruits the soul entice
the taste of spice great! to every slice a price
The eyes rain and the mouth would savour its pain
when dry is your land, sow no seed, reap no grain
Valiant steps fear no edge nor the burn of sands
wish die for the glory of walking God's Lands
Specks of dust make souls blind can turn lives to dust
just a spark of deep Faith heralds paths to trust
Ascend and observe, gems in you aim to earn
What seems as harm, a blessing if you would learn
God for you paves paths and lends many a hand
a deep well of Love granted to flood your land
Those warm drops of Love and Life, in time of birth
brought heaven under your feet, mothers of earth
Peace and joy in voice of heart to God raise praise
light in soul, a power with beauty would blaze
Brushes and pens paint and a language translate
the soul ebb and flow beyond language and state.
Lately I have paused, pondering death
But I'm not fit for it's journey yet.
It's not that I loathe meeting death's kind
It will be, for me, an experience of a lifetime.
I've had one stupendous, lovely, awesome gift
A second chance at life I could not resist.
So tell me this... who's thinking of dying?
Color me rainbow. Rain falls, next, I'm smiling.
Lately I have paused, pondering death
It's out of my hands, my stem's length and breath.
All I have been, isn't all that I am
I've taken a stand to let The Source guide my hands.
I can claim to be a calico, claiming nine lives
Again, and again, I rise with clearer eyes.
I'd assume any form my Maker moves me to use
Would I be excused, if in your haven I refuse?
I am a flower, even in winter
Even in winter, I am a flower.
*
Like a creature hibernating in its burrow
Waiting to come out with the first verdure of spring,
The seed of a poem lay dormant in my heart
Through the long winter awaiting another spring
After staying torpid inside for long,
At a time I expected it the least
Timidly came out the first word,
As shaky as a calf getting up for the first time.
Then another came and word after word in a row
Like pellets of rain on the window pane
I boiled them in the crucibles of my imagination
And finally dipping them in the ocean of my emotions
But rhyme came to set constraints
For the right alignment I struggled
I had to decide on its texture and format
Pondered if it should be a sonnet or an ode
I might have kept the door open for long
Alas! All my words and fancies flew away,
Like birds taking on wings into the sky
From a cage where they were imprisoned for long
I stood so helpless with my mouth shut,
Staring blankly out into the airy nothing
Like one lost in the doorway of his own threshold
Unable to call back those winged words lost in the void
________________________________________
~Placed Fifth~
Submitted for Marathon no.10. Poetry Contest
Sponsor - Mark Toney
~Placed First~
31. March .2022
A Brian Strand Standard
Poetry Contest
The garden of love bids tending
so often it pains us to render its due
when drought offers threat
and water is scarce
and lovers forget what it means to be true
Yet love, like a garden, rewards us
the flowers of the heart are worth all the pain
how else can we reap
that beautiful yield
with little to lose and with so much to gain
When I think of where we first started
with just the horizon to capture our view
my eyes now behold
what a garden can be
with effort and love to carry it through