Best Harkens Poems
Regally it stands, the staunch guardian of her lonesome heart,
Reminiscing in revelries of yore, treasured memories impart,
Defying glum turbulence of now, hanging on to seasons past,
When springs-winsome banished, doldrums harsh-winters cast.
Disheartened, the gate harkens back~ O, so young its master died,
Lamenting of distressed times, when grief stilled her teary eyed;
Yet, with resolve, it squeaks its hinges, resounding a voice of pride,
Beckoning to benevolence of bliss, fate had so callously denied.
With kindred vibes it greets her, vying elation of cherished days,
Suppressing aches and rattles of its rusting, clamoring, phase;
Preferring realm of time, when he was the keeper of this place,
As dutifully now it opens wide, exuding mirth of youthful grace.
O, how fondly the gate recalls, dance of duo beneath full moon,
Humming melodies intimate, passions of doting souls croon,
Embracing celebration of life, as heartbeats enamored attune,
To rhythms emanating song of love, strumming infatuated tune.
Despite groans and whimpers, blaring aloud clattering of pain,
The gate vows to protect her, refusing ever to wither or wane,
Unwavering through thunders, rains, vicious strikes of feeble age,
Challenging its steeled bones, to gallantly defy seasons’ rage.
Categories:
harkens, emotions, memory, missing,
Form:
Personification
I awaken; the darkened skies my alarm clock
I reek of whiskey, scotch and pastis
Tumbling out of bed, I reach for a cigarette
The dusk harkens as I rise to ply my trade
I am embodied inside a one room flat
The nightlife and the ladies both coming to life
Out the window I see the windmill so famous in red
Ladies with offers, men with drinks, the recipe for lust
I am the mime of the Moulin Rouge
I ready myself with my white painted face
Tonight another performance or so it seems
I shall juggle my knifes, with my many sad faces
Up up up in the air, one, two, three
Knifes in a whirlwind of iconic display
Around and around like the Moulin Rouge
I perform, toss and catch to applause
My sad face bows in graceful acknowledgement
As they toss their lose coins my way
If they see fit to fill my container of misery
I make for them my spectacular encore
I take a knife, a long black sharp blade
Tossed 12 feet in the air, dancing its way back down
As it slices the stem of a red rose in my hand
I now hand a pretty girl a cut rose
The ladies of the evening smile
They see I too traded romance for coin
How sad it is, this Moulin Rouge of dreams
Eleven more roses, and I shall earn my keep
Or so the ladies in red believe
I, on the other hand, will be changing the last act
I am tired of rent and being rented and rented cloth
I shall perform the ultimate act finale ce soir
Selecting the sharpest set of long fine knifes
Lighting them with orange flame, the juggling act begins
My audience enthralled, once again
Wondering maybe does he ever miss?
I never miss, I never shall, this is a certainty
The knifes a glow in fire, lighting the nighttime sky,
Tossed high, I lie down fast, tossed a rose in the air
A Knife as usual cut the rose stem
One, two, three, the knifes enter my heart
The blood will warm the falling rose
As it gently falls upon my silent chest
I die with a smile, yes my final act a success
The rose so tender upon my breast
Breathless all, Gay Paris has died once more
I never miss
Yet, I miss you
Categories:
harkens, rose,
Form:
Light Verse
GARDEN
Two haiku after a painting by Russell Gordon
flowering dogwood
perched and pert, a tanager
harkens to the wind
flowering dogwood
perched and pert, just listening
scarlet tanager
………………………………..
this plaster statue
she’s naked, white and demure
looking at a rose
her round, yellow hat
casts a shadow as she picks
transformation bloom
all is wet and wild
garden cowed by wind and rain
tortoise pokes its head
Repost
summer’s backward glance
reluctant to say adieu
one lonely white rose
Dave Austin
Categories:
harkens, nature,
Form:
Haiku
Moon light harkens,
Seeking new dimensions...
Stardust glistens, while
Unmasking true intentions...
Awakening emotions,
Inspiring deep devotion...
Lightly, proudly,
Love unveils its pleasure...
Embrace it, taste it,
Measuring such treasure...
Cast your pains away
With clear voice that greats the day,
Kneel and humbly pray,
Raise the curtain of the night
And walk into the mystery of the light...
Lift your head
And walk away from
Shrouded fears...
Turn aside
Of the life
You've lived before...
In your heart
Seek one thought
Of evermore...
And you'll know
Him as you've never
Known before...
Warmly, lightly,
The brightness will astound you...
Sense it, hear it
Wrap its arms around you...
Let your faith be shown-
From the brightness that-
You know will lead to sight...
Forever walking with
The mystery of the light...
Phantom Lyrics Contest
Sponsored by The Seeker
11/15/2016
Categories:
harkens, light, religious,
Form:
Lyric
First Love’s Indelible Memory Pure
Deep in my memory remains a pure vision of a first love,
long-forgotten—now conjured up as a present-day image.
This rare, soulful reflection harkens back to another time
long ago to a period of discovery and youthful innocence.
The slow and perpetual ravages of time—dim and affect now
these memories except those replete with passion and emotion.
Other images also enter my mind of things that might have been,
and of things that could have been, but in the end—never were.
Perhaps like many others, very seldom do I ever dwell on such
memories buried deeply in my mind and spiritual consciousness.
With such memories buried so deeply, also come those moments
of inexplicable pain, confusion, and an aching sense of real loss.
But, alas, as I awaken from this image-laden daydream of the past,
I realize the different path and direction I took was the right one.
If there be a lesson to all of this, it is to always know yourself, and
to never be afraid of what love’s pain my bring your way in life.
You can overcome it especially when you realize the role that fate
and destiny play in this whole process as you mature and move on.
The past ghosts of love’s pain are just that, they lie in the past, and in
the past as they should remain as you seek real true love in your life.
Gary Bateman, Copyright © All Rights Reserved
December 3, 2018 (Couplet)
Categories:
harkens, allegory, confusion, destiny, emotions,
Form:
Couplet
What's a billabong, a bop on the noggin”
In Oz, they speak funny, harkens back to their login
They misunderstood
Puters in all likelihood
Thought it was a passing fad, much-preferred snoggin'
(look it up!)
Categories:
harkens, paradise,
Form:
Limerick
Nostradamus quatrains
Famous Frenchman’s foreboding forecasts
History’s course, well-charted in rhyme
Startling revelations
Called Hitler “Hister,” brothers three – Kennedys
Forewarned the fall of “New City’s” twin towers
Dire observations
Verses recently discovered reveal
Civilization’s demise, two thousand twelve
Further consternation
Stretching across cold Atlantic waters
Unknown to him, two tribes concur
Hopi, Mayan predictions
The end of time draws near; final years
Proclaimed in calendars, written in sky
Chilling Armageddon
Nuclear war; stars and planets collide
Hellish fury fuels the clash; Earth dies
Sacred retribution
When on the winter solstice, man harkens
To the call of God; Judgment Day arrives
Categories:
harkens, visionary
Form:
Free verse
On Ladies' Night, there was
A little discount on the drinks,
A custom quite old-fashioned
And surprising, too, methinks.
Who wouldn't like the bill reduced
When going out to eat?
A savings of some buckeroos
Is always kind of sweet.
But Ladies' Night in modern times
Just sounds so not P.C.
It harkens back to times before
So-called equality.
The purpose then (and maybe now)
Was getting women soused
So men would have the chance (they hoped)
To get a gal unbloused.
My dinner with a girlfriend
Got me two bucks off my beer,
With not a man in sight
To give a glance or, much less, leer.
Categories:
harkens, drink,
Form:
Rhyme
There is NO MORE!
There Is No More!
9/10/2013
Now that Afghanistan is winding down
A new battlefield must be found
Preferably a place with internal strife
Where we can promise a better life
Assurances that no boots will touch their soil
Just as long as we have access to their oil
Innocents cry and wail, rage demands holy Jihad
Osama, Saddam, and now Assad
Regime change for Syria and Iran
Harkens back to Neo-cons genocidal plan
With our Media lapdogs standing near
Public opinion is controlled through lies and fear
President took us to the brink, not knowing which way to go
But the people stood their ground, and shouted out a resounding NO!.
Central, South America, Near and Middle East
Warmongers grow Hunger, time to feed the Beast
The Oligarchy living on the top of the hill
possess the weapons that will surely kill
Right wing fanatics still standing strong
Believing their way is the right way, and everyone else is wrong
Drone strikes, cruise missiles, chemical weapons, just like real War
Nuclear weapons are next, then there is no more!
Categories:
harkens, arabic, grief, political, war,
Form:
Rhyme
(El Niño and desertification…..)
Broken land has long since died,
clouds now for years have lied.
The awaited rains so often fail.
Million’s hearts with hunger wail.
Scorching sun bears to burn.
Hardened tilth, refuses to turn.
No burden beast left with a drive,
nor baked son who harkens strive.
The wooden yolk cracked and dry,
as sheep and dogs all lazy lie.
Village square where elders sat,
laughed and jeered, tobacco spat.
Drinks they downed by the score,
with caution now in tea cups pour.
“Targa clan’s women are whores….
incredible tusks of a shot down boar.”
Broken dangles the shanty’s door,
and hollow rings the folksy lore.
Humming wheel of miller’s store.
Hurt and pain of farmers bore.
That drove it once, the feed is dry,
at parks no more the children cry.
Silent cringes the neighbor’s cat.
Now scarce to see a scurrying rat.
The calling kith, from dusty deed,
watch with horror, our lives bleed.
Wordless in graves our fallen kin.
While we entombed in our dusty bin.
Hear their footsteps echo still.
As we slink! The graveyards fill
original
saadat tahir
11, Nov 2k11
(Islamabad)
Exegesis:
Inspired by a well known / well read poem…“Freeman’s Mill”
El Niño: (many links removed...)
http://philobiblon.co.uk/?p=3631
http://www.fews.net/Pages/Horn-of-Africa-Emergency.aspx
http://ccb.colorado.edu/ijas/ijasno2/georgis.html
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/29030
Categories:
harkens, natural disasters,
Form:
Rhyme
Your golden hair like Jason's fleece
Flows and streams, now disarrayed, yet neat
Waving as a banner at once to the beat
Yet with promise and rapacity so replete
How your eyes sparkle behind your lids
How they must glow and how they must flick
Flash when they open so wide and blue
Yet now closed, as fire trap't by flue
Your arms now lift, delicate fingers wave
To banish the world of monotony and pain
They so loose and murmuring true meaning
A life I view 'thout your simple, sweet reasoning
As you move, loose rapacious rampant glee
From a world of spirit - simplicity
Your hips they do sway, speak condemnation
Of all misery hereto, to which we seem hasten
Conniving voracious creature which harkens
Is banished and cast off, made but microcosm*
Leo, great lion is as nothing to your rhythm
Struck off as venality to your creation, your schism
The human so simple so caught up by miasma*
Is at once transfixed, in place, in paroxysm*
This viewer at once poised, caught up in his pride
Is now gravitating, and to thee I must slide
Knowest you how wonderfully you exemplify
What is contrast to left - so right
Nay but you don't, and such is thy grace
You dance so light-airy, make perfect this place
Shining hair and glowing eyes
Re-laxed posture, abandoned pride
All memory is cast away, aside
As you dance in beauty, perfection, arised.
* Microcosm - A world in miniature.
* Miasma - A noxious atmosphere or influence
* Paroxysm - A sudden attack or violent expression of a particular emotion or activity
*** The image here represented is supposed to be a girl dancing. Leo was a suitor of hers, rebuffed by the dancer, who enjoyed herself, while dancing alone to "It's a beautiful life," by Ace of Base
Categories:
harkens, life, love, passion, uplifting,
Form:
Rhyme
FLAWLESS? .................OR FLAWED?
He scoffs at those who must wear glasses
When they check his eyes, he always passes
He can read his book when it is very close
And yet can see so far, that he’ll puff and boast
No spec’s for him, NOPE ! He’ll never need 'em
Those perfect eyes, he’s quite proud of them
They say each one is twenty/twenty
His vision exceeds his age group, plenty!
He brags, and spouts that he can see.....
his neighbor’s flaws across the street
~
But sadly, what he does not see
What are beautiful things to you and me
He only sees when rain clouds darken
He cannot see that springtime harkens
He cannot see beyond the dark
Where beauty lies among the stars
Or dew upon the morning rose
He'll only see where weeds have grown
When harvest moon is on the hill.....
he'll watch TV, then take a pill
The things we see, with eyes, aren’t nearly
a gift if hearts can’t see them clearly
~ ~
For the "Flaw and Flawless", contest by Skat
Categories:
harkens, introspection, people
Form:
Couplet
Aye, what a revolution in red and orange against the
venom of society and culture
With the flowers of right palm though a gesture of dance
in fact covers her tears
A story of blue tension and deep emotion in red flamenco
so flamboyantly executes the dancer
The crimson movement of the lyrical arms and torso
in sync with the guitar is awesome
Unique euphoria of exuberance in the swirl of a female figure
so provocative
What a dancing dream doing up the drawings of
the body on the fly
What a message of moons in mounds you convey
through the crafty curves
And each passing passion pulsates from prose to
poetry of muscles and bones
Eros encouraging us to transcend ourselves through
the journey of desire like a fountain
From brownish black towards the orange flames
on the comely conical mountains
And the warmly amber valley as it mingles with the
flames from the dancing spark
Blackens darkens and then harkens at joyous response
of mesmerized connoisseurs
Deepens the dense dance still further by generating
romantic proposition in her gestures
Unstoppable time hypnotized to stop for a moment to
stand and see how infinity can dance
Time itself in much ado on the long neck of
reddening movement
Aye, you dancing fire spreading your oranges everywhere
from Andalusia to Madrid
And then all over the globe amazing you me and all
in modern style of elegant gestures
Sliding the shoulder blades down the back and thus
the chest held proudly
Inviting inquisitive attention to read the poems
up to the chin and down the tall back
Closing the eye for a few seconds we see in awe our fertile
dear earth in a dance of rebellion
The earthy and raw in a fascinating gesture of life
we do need to feel so much
That while in the midst of viewing what you interpret
we too get merged in the dancing colour
Aha! What a phenomenon
____________________________________________________
September 23, 2017
For the contest:Poems that paint a picture 3
Hosted by: Silent One
Categories:
harkens, dance, desire, fire, guitar,
Form:
Free verse
My DEAREST
**************************
My Dearest Aphrodite...
I write of our honey moon...
your skin... soft... smooth as silk...
thoughts... blossomed... perfumed...
a rose in the hope of pollination...
my yearning heart beats...
harkens to your lilting voice...
I Hephaestus swooned at your whispers...
dusk arrived...
I am calmed by your smile...
it takes us into the twilight hours...
held between my cupped hands...
in hope that you might allow me...
to dry your tears of happiness...
my hands free your bejeweled face...
I lay you down... we embrace... kiss
in the silence... I listen... your sighing...
my heart throbs... waiting...
for your words...
allowing two to become one...
we searched for the rapturous hues of love...
my wife... the Goddess of love...
me... Hephaestus the God of fire
twas us both that lit the sky that morn...
My thanks my dearest...
Hephaestus... your ever loving master...
***************************************
Love letter II - Poetry Contest, sponsored by Viv Wigley
3/24/18
Categories:
harkens, love,
Form:
Blank verse
That Secret Place That Glows
Now alone she ponders the persuasive reality of emotive vulnerability
The stranger vanished while magical moments persisted and lingered on
Sleight of hand is a nemesis obliged to invoke the dynamics of incongruity
Undeterred are elements of rapture like sand dunes on a distant blue lagoon
Instants in retrospect revealing acts of what transpired provokes no surprise
Depicting scenes of tough roller coaster rides and confrontations with woes
Seeking solace from failed endeavors the heart harkens to own the prize
Courage trump defeat leading her love to that secret place that glows
Penned:
08/03/2016
West palm Beach
Florida
USA
Categories:
harkens, courage, heartbroken, hope, journey,
Form:
Rhyme