Best Hearkens Poems
It jumps not to the thought of riches or the prospect of gold
For common treasures are not what it seeks
But rather it responds to that probable possibility
That it may have touched the depths of someone else's soul
It hearkens not to sparkling gems or lusts after a lifetime of wealth
For inside jewels lies the hearts of thieves
But rather it stirs at giving a word someone needs
For inspiration to even the smallest person is a diamond in itself
It doesn't ache for dollar bills or lurch at the sight of green
For nowadays money comes in many different forms
But rather it longs to patch up another heart that may have been torn
And once again to give that person's life meaning
It is a place where the world dare not or otherwise cannot go
A safe haven for valuables other than currency
A hidden trail where treasure means finding creativity
A path that only the hearts of poets know
Categories:
hearkens, imagination, passion, people, social,
Form:
Enclosed Rhyme
Oh land of the free
And home of the brave, where are you?
Where is the torch that hearkens
The tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to be free?
When did freedom of religion
Become acceptance of
Only one religion?
When did freedom of speech only exist
When the listener and speaker agreed?
Why are we intolerant of extremists abroad,
But blindly follow extremists we call left or right?
When did news become fake news when it
Stated things that the listener did not like?
When did peaceful protests get vilified
And intimidation get glorified?
When did public servants
Stop serving the public?
When will equal justice truly be equal
despite race, culture, religion, and gender?
Is America, the beautiful
Truly beautiful
When we close our minds
And close our hearts?
Can we be proud to be American
And hate anyone unlike ourselves?
We argue over building
Physical walls,
But ignore
The spiritual walls and
The emotional walls
That we build
To silences differences.
My country, tis of thee,
My sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I plead.
Love your neighbor as yourself,
Forgive others as you were forgiven,
Clothe yourself in compassion, kindness, and humility,
For that is what will make America
Great again.
Categories:
hearkens, america, conflict, freedom, prejudice,
Form:
Free verse
Saint Augustine so eloquently stated, “Our hearts are restless until we find our rest in Thee.”
Restless heart, “Listen to the silence”
The whispers of kindness inspiring joy
Wherever it reaches, beyond the wings
Of caressing gentleness, meek and filled
With a breath of tenderness in the air
Restless heart, “Listen to the music”
The notes of compassion erasing hate
Hastening inspiration within the soul
Who listens to the guidance, oh so sure
The light of life falling down from above
Restless heart, “Listen to the grace”
The stirring of amazement flickering
Through the hues of delight, ecstasy
Waking the hope that lives in the heart
Breaking away from destructive thought
Restless heart, “Listen to the sensations”
Feelings of pure praise singing to the dawn
Raising vibrant shades of crisp crimson hues
Flickering on the winds of praise and worship
From a heart who knows about pure love
Restless heart, “Listen to the murmurs”
Sweet mercy calling through the limbs
Of a forest alive with emerald thrills
Feelings flooding souls with truth and courage
Whimsical sighs of fires raging on the inside
Restless heart, “Listen to the call”
Wisdom hearkens to wishes that fall
Against encouraging thoughts, dreams
That acknowledge the truth within
Reflecting on a serenity that comes from Him
Restless heart, “Listen to the still, small voice”
Of the One who lights the way to love
The One who answers our prayers in a way
That gives our hearts the tranquility
Quiet that comes from His gentle spirit
Restless heart, “Listen to Jesus words”
In Him, find your hope and faith
Your enlightenment, amazing grace
The wonder, the miracle, of knowing
God is love and love is alive, shining bright
Categories:
hearkens, faith, god, gospel, inspirational,
Form:
Free verse
Written: October 1st 2023
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the ocean of silence, I’m stunned
Astonish by its grandeur as I descend.
A comely curtain of conciliatory calm
Elapse the chaos, surreptitious and warm.
In the hushed embrace of the twilight sky,
A silence plummets, ambrosial all nearby.
Astonied hearts stand in solicitous awe.
A comely night implies her ethereal flaw.
Emollient whispers waft into the air.
Surreptitious secrets are shared with care.
Incipient stars start their gentle wafture,
Surreal leaves create a ripple in nature.
Mellifluous melodies mend meteoric might,
Fugacious flimsies that fizzle out of a fight
Gossamer moonbeams cast their diaphanous glow,
Creating an aura of silence, tranquility, and bestow.
Ineffable fairness, fiercely feisty, not frigid,
The break of dawn silenced, as if timid.
Saturnine secrets shrank in secrecy.
Stupendous silence slides, sinewy spree.
Lull launders, looping the limp land,
As warblers start with a duteous band,
Sullen clouds gather, ominous and dark.
Yet awestruck hearts find solace in calm remarks.
Reassuringly, the heavy silence lingers.
Dour faces are glum, yet prudent fingers
Guide the oxymoron of emotions that flow,
Glowering and divine in their quiet glow
In the gloomy hush, discretion gleans hold,
As discerning minds decry peace in the fold,
The prudent ones, with a discreet glance,
Understand the power of silence dance.
Glum faces settle in quiet repose.
Views deepen, and worries dispose
Astounded by stillness, they are in awe.
Of absolute peace that stillness can draw.
Awestricken by the amorphous depth it brings,
They decry solace in the lull that silence sings.
A curtain of calm tumbles, amazed and serene.
As the amorphous depth of quiet is felt and seen.
Inauspicious cruxes balmily soothe fears.
As diaphanous whispers softly, quell tears.
Hinky hearts hearkens a hypothesis behind,
A voice uttered, "Love silence will never hide".
No query or qualm can squeal this bond.
Silence is where my peace is dulcet fond.
In the hushed embrace of the twilight sky,
Silence reigns, and my love will never die.
Categories:
hearkens, analogy, appreciation, silence,
Form:
Rhyme
What icy wind has brought this darkened day
it hearkens to the depth of it's bowel
from this day hence,until the month of May
like the lonely wolf mates, deep throaty howl
to breathe is almost like a winter fray
as so dost the Arctic Polar Bear scowl
My heart yearns for the budding in April
Thus will quell this winters foreboding shrill
Tough style!
Categories:
hearkens, nature
Form:
Ottava rima
When sorrows bring me down
And I haven’t a friend to be found
When dread darkens my thoughts
And nothing I feel is worthwhile
When fear colors my whole world
And hues of black flow all around
There is the opportunity, the chance
To give it all to One who can lift me up
Reassure and encourage, fill me with hope
Light my heart and soul with inspiration
There is One who listens to my plea
He understands my requests
Hears my longings and supplications
There is One who attends to my needs
He hearkens to all my petitions
He appreciates my solicitations
There is One who hears all my prayers
He listens with care to my invocations
Answers my heart’s appeals
With kindness, a tender affection
That reveals the warmth of His giving
There is One who I go to when I’m in need
One who cares, delivers and inspires
One who lights up my thoughts with joy
One who makes a way for my dreams
One who promises and I believe
There is One who knows me
And gives me His greatest gift
The love that I treasure with
Everything I believe or dream
With everything that brings me
The sweetest joy and serenity
Love like this could never be fake
It is love like this that makes a way
Where there is no way
It is love like this that shows me the way
Toward the faith that is strong, and I pray
For His mercy and grace, felt by the heart
Who knows that He is alive on the inside
And will forever bring the answers
To those pleas for compassion
Pick-A-Title, Vol 26 - Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Edward Ibeh
Title Chosen: 4.) Invocation
October 12, 2021
Categories:
hearkens, inspirational, jesus, prayer,
Form:
Free verse
each room bright
well lit I find
myself switching off
a light that’s not on
it’s off it’s bright
feast to the sight
walls are textured white
the moon looms
when the brightness dims
on shadowed limbs
outside-in and inside-out
and upside-down the lids
close and darkness hearkens
dreams and nightmares
and in betweens
til morning sits up
in its time and frolics
in my stead
Categories:
hearkens, imagery, light, moon,
Form:
Free verse
HEAL OUR LAND
Dear Lord we pray heal our land
We know You are the Lord who hearkens to prayer
Who holds us with His victorious hand
And surely it is not in vain that in prayer we labour
Forgive Lord, our generation
That has deeply sunk in abomination
Our relationship with You has been superficial
Though You have shown us that to You we are special
We have plunged into this world’s pleasure
And have forgotten the things we must treasure
Polish us so that with your glory we may glow
Nurture us; enrich us so that we may grow
Our hearts are as hard as a flint
Break us so that we will not sink
We have been so proud
And put on a wicked crown
We say we love but we kill
Fill us with your love and let us live
Our promises have been empty
Our spirits haughty
Heal our land, heal our nation we pray
Before You our lives we lay
For You we desire to live long
And in pursuit of holiness and righteousness we want to finish strong
Categories:
hearkens, christian, faith, jesus, prayer,
Form:
Rhyme
It is funny!
Very funny how
A masked preacher can preach honesty;
And even points at the wrongs with his
Fingers of hypocritical righteousness…
We stare with grim satisfaction
Because the black winged Angel
Ridding a flaming chariot tells a tale;
And proclaims that God is love,
Yet he, himself is an Angel of death.
Day after wretched day Humanity walks!
He walks down the dark alley of freedom;
Freedom which shouts fairness;
Fairness that begets confusion—
And he tries to bottle the spittle of birds…
Every night he lies in bed and tries to hear
The voice of fishes shouting gender and Sexualty in a world where the scale of
Equality is unevenly proportional and
Equal rights mean the oppression of men.
Apartheid, the history of Mzanzi is
The present for the African world and
That has caused his inferiority complexes
To suffice and personalize racism and
One after another, generations play along.
Lest we forget,
The victims are just as guilty
As the perpetrators but at some point.
Humanity weeps as he inspects
His isle of hopelessness!
But just like the majority, men;
They cry in hiding.
Where no-one sees,
No-one hears and
No-one dares speak for the black sheep!
Deep down this egocentric radicalism,
He orders rotten eggs to make an omelette
With which he feeds pirate justice,
And he goes all year long
On a running stomach.
Although the words never sink,
Humanity hearkens to
The rumbling stomach of justice but
When the rainbow of life turns
Grey!
Humanity's children cry day and night
While the Angel of death entrusted
Their protection feasts on their tears
And dances to the beautiful sound
Of their troubled voices.
And when the wolf comes for their
Brazen souls we hail at the smiling lady
Who says 'I am virgin Mary'
With fangs behind her white vail
And poison under her tongue—death!
The rich are poor but morally,
Yet no-one sees
And no-one cares;
They say 'each one for himself'
Come shall the final hour do.
It is funny!
Very funny how
A masked preacher can preach honesty;
And even points at the wrongs with his
Fingers of hypocritical righteousness…
Humanity looks on
And passes his judgement.
The masked preacher scoffs:
“No-one is perfect.
No, not one!”
Categories:
hearkens, anger, pain, patriotic, political,
Form:
Ode
He sits under the trees of the garden,
As unto the voice of his maker he hearkens,
A pillar of light is he as the world darkens,
Declaring the gospel's true pattern,
Humbled,he stands in the courts of his accusers,
Smiling at the fowl word of his criticizers,
As he diligently speaks the searched scriptures,
Stone hearts, soft he renders,
The joy of a saved soul keeps him going,
As pure desire keeps strength flowing,
Salvation is his aim as he is daily sowing,
For in the vineyard new souls keep growing,
Full is his heart's joy,
Working relentlessly with the speed of a child's toy,
Walking steadfast in temptations toil,
As he returns with companionship of the spirit's coil,
Categories:
hearkens, dedication
Form:
Rhyme
Something about January
Broods my blood to slush.
A new year's unknowns
Hearkens hope to hush.
It's a dark visage that stuns,
Heritage of Januarys past.
Death calls my loved ones
With winter's harshest blast.
It seems we're trying to cope
By saying "Happy New Year!"
Yet one must toast the hope
That a wish can fight a fear.
But I think—I'm sure I'm right
The Reaper so deathly scary
Will call me an ice-enameled night
In the cold heart of January.
Categories:
hearkens, death, january,
Form:
Rhyme
Pause, ponder as only man can,
Freed from mind's prison, what-if's pall,
Know, heaven hails a happy man.
Right things do happen to man, when
He hearkens to soul's silent call,
So, pause and ponder as ye can.
Do take a panoramic pan,
View that the world's no hospice hall,
It’s time it hails a happy man.
Enough this ill-gotten suntan,
Stop chasing Sun, why, why at all?
O pause to ponder as man can.
Pray, all that ye have to do then—
Is to bridge a gulf, fall a wall,
Be cosy in a happy den.
This done, be a free bird again,
Dawn’s dawn not when night’s reign does fall,
And haply feel as sure as can,
Heaven hails such a happy man.
Categories:
hearkens, happiness, life,
Form:
Villanelle
Penetrating the window the moonlight casts onto my desk wheyey cream of gleam
Bypassing the door ajar extends afar my reminiscence in wee wisps of waft,
Ferreting out your memo and dusting dog-eared pages before sallow lamp shaft,
I telepathize myself terrifically to wonder whether you are right in your serene dream
weaving the warp and woof of our romance that away from remontant has yet stayed.
Gazing at the ink trace set on papers into which condense and crystalize the bygones gooily gaunt,
and missing my line of thoughts between the lines from which spill and spread nostalgic titbits that haunt,
Could I recover the complete imagery of your sensuous sentimentality from splintery pieces frailly frayed?
Should your memo mirrors my heart, the first to fade in my sight would be your eyes glistening in tears.
Should my heart hearkens to your memo, ne'er to fade out of your ears, my sweet nothings day and night.
anxious to teleport myself before you to get an eyeful o'er you, my eyeful, a fay wanting knight,
I set out to indulge both of us into long overdue snuggles and osculations, up for which my everything gears,
Only such blue-sky scenario fails to take off, transfixed by the moonlight peeking into the memo so soon,
Where would I enshrine your solicitude of old, which seems to seep out of the lines while crooning toward the moon?
Categories:
hearkens, i miss you, imagery,
Form:
Romanticism
As long as I can remember
came Christmas cards in December -
my aunts back home to thank.
With glad tidings at yuletide
and always tucked away inside
a cheque from Barclays Bank.
Looking back as I live and muse
on Boxing Day I’d gamble and lose
on some pony my bet to lay.
In the birdcage or at the tote
my losing ticket stubs in my coat
but I’d be back on Cup Day.
Playing poker and alley pool
on our summer break before school
cos that’s what gamblers do.
And with my stake on my way
for a brand shiny new LP to play
off I’d go to Record Rendezvous.
And from the Sweet Briar fairy
came a birthday card in late January
just a few short weeks hence.
Which was a master stroke
for by then I was always broke
as I had more dollars than sense.
As long as this heart of mine
hearkens a carol at Christmas time
or candles a long age bode…
I’ll remember a season’s joy
and all the many cards as a boy
I got from Sweet Briar Road.
Written: January 2018
Categories:
hearkens, childhood, christmas, nostalgia,
Form:
Rhyme
Joy* midst Scriptures’ meditation
Communing with God during moments of devotion
Listening to His voice for divine instruction
While drawing nigh to Him plight’s intention
Cognizant that He hearkens to sincere supplication
Geared toward worshipful dedication…
Oh, strengthening gladness of the Lord in action
Empowers my faith for work fruition
Along His gracious constraining motion
Subduing slothfulness’ perdition.
*Nehemiah 8:10 … the joy of the LORD is your strength.
August 4, 2019
Categories:
hearkens, christian, deep, faith, god,
Form:
Monorhyme