Best Inert Poems
You entered my room
a long time ago
across many summers,
now when this winter looks
at the trees shedding the leaves
you are by the closed window
leaning on the cold wall
and I am by the fireplace,
your eyes on the cracking wood on fire
mine on the frosted window pane.
Have you ever wondered
why my voice doesn’t reach you,
the words crash on the wall
and fall silent, that’s why.
Have you ever wondered
why my warmth doesn’t touch you,
the feelings brush the window pane
and freeze inert, that’s why.
Have you ever wondered
why my eyes don’t look into yours,
the vision is stuck on barren trees outside
and waits for the spring, that’s why.
Have you ever wondered
why my hands can’t hold yours,
the reach is lost in distant time
and breaks separated, that’s why.
I have wondered
if I could break the cold wall
shatter the iced window pane
make the trees green again
would my voice rise from the dust
the warmth of my mind melt the ice
my eyes bring colors of spring in yours,
would the time stop
stop to create distance
and I could hold your hands again.
I’m listless as a lazy river
barely lapping at the shore.
I wanted once to find the ocean,
but I don’t care any more.
Would I even make a ripple
if a stone were tossed my way?
Even with the frogs and fishies
I no longer wish to play.
I’ve lost my course and lie inert
inside my riverbed.
Had I legs to help me run,
I think they’d be as lead.
So spiritless and dull am I.
I’m like the kite I see
motionless each breeze-less day,
stuck and hanging from a tree.
Languor sure did overtake me,
for this humid, hot July
sucked out all my energy.
I think perhaps I’ll simply die.
Posted Aug. 3, 2022
For Hilo Poet's Simile Poetry Contest
Submitted Jan. 31, 2023 for Julia Ward's
Your Favourite Rhyming Poem From The Second Half Of 2022 Poetry Contest
You entered my room a long time ago
across the dry landscape of many summers
now when this winter looms over the trees
shedding the wilted leaves
you are by the closed window
leaning on the cold wall
and I am by the fireplace
your eyes on the cracking wood on fire
mine on the frosted window pane
freezing my mental agony.
Have you ever wondered
why my voice doesn’t reach you
the words crash on the wall
and fall silent, that’s why
have you ever wondered
why my warmth doesn’t touch you
the feelings brush the window pane
and congeal inert, that’s why
have you ever wondered why
my eyes don’t look into yours
the vision is stuck on the bare trees outside
and waits for the spring, that’s why
have you ever wondered why
my hands can’t hold yours
the reach is lost in desolate time
and breaks separated, that’s why.
I have wondered if I could break the cold wall
shatter the iced window pane
make the trees green again
would my voice rise from the dust
would the warmth of my mind melt the ice
and my eyes bring the colors of spring in yours,
would the flow of time stop
stop to create the stretching distance
and I could hold your hands again.
No Not Me
Did you think when I left
I'd never answer my phone,
ignore your messages,
never speak to you again?
Did you think I was that guy?
I thought you knew me
but it wasn't about me was it?
How often have others disappeared?
You were judging me as if I was them.
I guess I can't blame you,
life is not always kind.
But not me, no not me.
I'm not him,
It's my actions represent me,
define the man I am.
Words lie and eyes aren't always
an insight to every man.
You can't always trust their smile.
I bet the devil is an attractive male
with an inert charm and not a horn in sight.
You can't beat the sky in your own skin.
If your a demon you groom flawlessly,
dress like a king, with a look that's soft.
The wolf doesn't tell the sheep "I'm here!"
It's the guy with nothing to hide who is often
misconstrued. Honesty has it's price.
I don't blow dry my hair in the mirror.
practice my reactions.
I don't kiss up,
my nose is clean.
I don't always talk in a quiet melodic voice
or hide my tears. When I say it's alright
It just is.
I didn't walk away, I had to leave
but you can find me.
For you I am always here!
Did you think when I left I would disappear?
Never!
I hold you dear.
I'm always here.
No not you
You would never just walk away
Away from people or things you love
You don't always say what you feel in spoken
words,
yet you shout out your feelings in written words,
no lies are here, you write from the heart.
Your love holds no bounds, you love for life,
You say that your eyes are not an insight to your soul,
Yet when the light goes out, I know your dying inside
To walk away, no not you, to hide for a time,
Maybe,
.
Who am I is a question,
That baffles and confuses me.
Aren’t I a stranger to myself,
When in me angels and demons cohabit,
Dwelling side by side.
Sometimes I am mired in confusion.
Sometimes I feel I am a moth caught fast in the fire,
And about to be burnt, when drawn to light
Mindless of the great peril looming.
Sometimes I feel I am sidelined and ignored,
And left out from the mainstream of life,
Like a book stacked away on a rusty shelf
In a dark corner, never touched or dusted.
After a wave of rising energy
I fall into a state when I feel so inert and dull.
At times, feel that I am a lifeboat without oars.
But soon I alight on the lighthouse of joy.
As the cycle of seasons keeps changing
The pendulum of my life swings from joy to sorrow
And hope and despair are threaded,
Into the tapestry of life as warp and woof
Essentially kind and compassionate,
I am moved to tears whenever I see,
An instance of human suffering
And tears of joy well my eyes
When I witness human excellence and pride over it.
Time has mellowed me, and wisdom has taught me,
To see the inner light shining in me.
Even when dark clouds creep into my night sky
Beneath the façade of my aching torso,
I see a soul eternal and indestructible.
At best, I like to think that I am a child of God,
And I strive to be led by that inner light.
Even when I swim in the doldrum of life,
I pray to release the infinitesimal quantum of energy,
That keeps the fire in me ever-blazing,
To add my lustre even to the stars.
To love and be loved is my credo,
For “even if I speak
in the language of angels and have no love
I am only a noisy, empty gong”.
There is a spark of heavenly fire in each one of us
Though it may lie dormant in broad daylight
It kindles up, beams, and blazes
In the dark hours of adversity.
So, frolic in the Living water and dance on the cliff
An edifice constructed through years of hard labor
May be destroyed overnight but keep building anyway!
What happens when we use up all the words
Tie up phrases to often spun
Sit in chairs while wondering
Why these spindly legs no longer run
Have we lost sight of visions dawn
Lost our souls amid a darkening day
Cursed the butterfly to fly alone
Believe the moment froze and so must stay
As far away a crayoned hand awakes
And on a crumpled page sees more than we
For everything is new and bright and fresh
For joy has found an open heart as nest
Are words but inert beings in life’s race
And we but weary poets giving chase
Just drop once, when you happen to go by.
A tale they may count, mountains of my country;
Of paradise invaded and forests destroyed,
Of vessels adrift and sailors athirst,
Of savage hunting and extinction of the Dodo.
Witness to history stand mountains of my country;
Bloodshed, war times, hunger and poverty;
Settlers, slaves, coolies or expatriates,
They know all, who defiled in time.
Inert and helpless lay mountains of my country.
Waves of changes struck their homeland.
Forest cried but sweat fell with hope in heart
For making habitation in a newfound land.
Store of knowledge are mountains of my country.
They may tell you of slavery abolished,
Of unification of heart and mind and
The fight for freedom for a respectful life.
Beware, omniscient are mountains of my country
They may tell you of clean or dirty business.
Of unity in diversity or the fumes of hatred
Which burn dark hearts in the sanctity of homes.
Sages are to me, the mountains of my country.
From childhood to youth to parenthood;
Refuge they gave my helpless heart,
Blessed me when crossing overseas,
And were always here to welcome me back.
I love and respect the mountains of my country!
11/07/16
Contest: Mountains
Winner: 1st place.
Miles in a coaster, a day and hours elapsed,
Felt the utmost relief when the whirling wheels halted;
So weary and dizzy, even a smile seemed so hideous
But an in peace slumber I desperately craved for;
Eyes wide-opened at the chirping of euphonious birds,
Stirred myself with hankering for the glimpse of exquisite village,
But still a dawn blanketed in frosty mist, sight diminished,
I’d only steal the blurry scene of Tang valley;
An hour after, when the glorious sun showed its perky visage,
Outside I stood relishing the splendor of the hamlet
And savoring the icy breeze wafting underneath my nose
With succulent aroma from the Mother Nature;
Amidst undulating hills and mountains down lay a quiet place,
So called Tang enclosed by rich vegetation and iridescent river
That embellishes the heavenly place superfluously picturesque,
Enticing all man into the blissful homeland of Tang Valley;
Houses clustered and down beneath the farmyard,
Divine school stands with its pride upheld
And hallowed veneration anyone would esteem,
It is so-called Tang Central School elevated of late;
Established in 1965, primary to middle since last year,
Now shines the school proud and gratified of its new recognition
As the central school bestowed with prerogatives and autonomy,
And concurringly, rejoicing its Golden Jubilee in eons;
Postures upright like inert figurines in a park,
Crescendo of unripe singsong voices spring at eight and thirty,
Crooning the sincere words of praise and homage to Tsa-Wa-Sum
That infuses the all hearts with never like joie de vivre;
A trickle of erudite whizzes and astute greenhorns
Gathered deep delved into a bond of kinship with no antipathy,
But an unremitting fondness amongst solicitous brethren-
A purveyor of ecstasy as its depiction I call for the beautiful home.
Human ingenuity leapfrogs beyond ordinary
Buoying upon wings of intellectual curiosity
Sustaining innovation, creative imagination,
Breaking barriers once thought impenetrable,
Daring to conquer the arduous, unknown~
Resistant to understanding, inert to inquiry.
Unfathomable is force of scientific curiosity
That opened doors to discoveries, inventions:
Telescopes that explore the origin of universe,
Space flights landing on Moon and Mars,
Defying gravity, exceeding the speed of sound;
Telephones, electricity, computers, automobiles,
Untold preventive medicines, therapeutics,
Vaccines holding in check reign of pandemics,
Treatments for diseases, cure for hepatitis,
Nuclear fusion searching new source of energy
Reducing emissions to sustain life on earth.
Curiosity is the flame of wisdom, inspiration,
Lifeline for mortality pursuing life and liberty;
Promise of yesterday, today, and tomorrow,
For explicating phenomena less understood,
For guiding aspirations of cognitive intellect,
For directing journey on roads not traversed.
January 8, 2023
Placed 1st: This or That, Vol 15 Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Edward Ibeh
Swamps are like places where dinosaurs roam
shadowed by ancient moss-draped trees.
A prehistoric world in shades of green.
I paddle my pirogue through algae foam.
Around me it's taciturn and serene
as I collect for whittling, cypress knees.
Fishermen, hunters, and I call it home.
Nature's garden profuse with wildflowers;
cattails and swamp iris in brown and blue.
An alligator, inert near the banks.
I sit and gaze at the beauty for hours.
For my primitive domain, I give thanks -
for the bass I caught, simmering in stew,
and for herbs I use for healing powers.
In the swamp, it's as if time has stood still.
Under lily pads there lurks big bullfrogs
hiding from herons and the egret.
I can hear them calling out their trill.
Time in my cabin I never regret.
Life is peaceful in these foggy bogs.
I ready myself for night's misty chill.
Sinister snakes slither in shallow brine
and cling to low branches overhead,
trying to catch the last ray of sun.
I descry them while checking my line
then gather up moss, and when that's done,
I will stuff it inside my mattress bed.
Living in my swamp suits me just fine.
_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_
January 21st, 2016
Human Nature Contest
Sponsor: Marugu Mo
Daggled and bloodied, the young man lay upon the ground where he’d been
left.. .left by vile men who, spurred by senseless hate and ravenous for a taste of
violence, had lured him with false fellowship and brought him to this secluded spot
by veil of darkened day. At first, they bound his arms, rendering him defenseless to
what was to ensue. After dragging him a small way from the back seat of their van,
they proceeded to pummel his stomach and his face, breaking his nose almost
instantly. When he stumbled to the ground, he received the heels of their boots as
they kicked at his extremities and then again, he received their cruel blows to his
stomach and face. When certain they had done enough damage so he would not
last a night in the cold, they spat on him and drove away.
As his attackers sat far away in a bar, drunk and boasting how they’d “done the
world a favor,” he’d already passed the stage of vomiting and gasping for his
breath. And though his brain was writhing with awful pain, with knowledge of his
sure obliteration, his chilled and broken body stayed inert. Reposed as if inside the
womb, he felt the ache receding, and before night’s shadows passed into the dawn,
his blood had stanched.
Now as flesh turns into carrion lying undiscovered in the dust, his spirit… never
quashed. . .cries out for justice.
We are but fleeting shadows
Upon the face of this earth
So solid,so tangible ,yet so ready
To slip through the hands of life
When we doff our mortal coil
To leave an inert and empty shell
Doomed from birth to turn to dust
How much store do we place
In the substance of this earth
Which can erupt and flow in waves
Sweeping all before it unstoppably
Then coming to rest
Once more monumentally still
Cloaked in the garb of geological grittiness
Water itself takes many forms
As gas,liquid and solid
Steam, water and ice
Such metamorphoses tease our understanding
The restlessness of our universe
Encompassing a world of whirling atoms
to give an illusion of stability
While spatially distanced.
This mysterious blend of dark matter
And seemingly solid shapes
Defies resolution by the human mind
As a few search for meaning
Seen by many as a purposeless pursuit.
Plus ca change,
Plus c'est la meme chose.
In this arid plain of perennial drought,
as I stand transfixed with vexations rising in my spirit
and sadness lying mute as a stone,
I discern, I am alone with none to hold my hand
or share the burden that weighs me down.
Trudging through rugged paths
with my mournful shadow, tottering along,
the past sneers at me, breaking open
bottled up memories- of years spent in unbridled passion,
the smell of cigarettes, ganja and beer
wine and women, bet and gambling,
and the thrill of having won and lost
I used narcotic drugs many and they kept
gnawing into my psyche!
Once I walked with stilted gait
with friends and fans, amid laughter and haste
eager to please and to praise
Inebriated and effervescent were we
Fancied money could buy all we yearned
and turn this Earth-a virtual Paradise
But how swift was the twist of fate!
With no condiments, life suddenly turned bland.
The gorgeous castles I once built, burnt down to cinders
like dry leaves blown by the wind,
Friends, I thought never would desert,
flitted away one by one!
With dejection and despair warping me down
a rabid dog I strayed.
Grew irritable and vicious,
fled away from bond and bondage
spitting the saliva of my angst,I barked… barked at everyone;
“Where did vanish all the fabulous dreams
Whither gone life’s ritzy splendors?
But the wildfire burnt itself down,
now a passive stillness has settled in.
In this inert hush, as I grope,through murky corridors
with the sound of my footsteps falling like a thud,
a single query breaks out from within
‘Where shall I hide unseen
from this horrid loneliness staring me in the eyes?’
when all is a tangle of alphabet
voiceless, unwound and looming
what bits of sky shall we replace
falling into place like forgotten speech
puzzles of the mind
the deepest fragments of blue
cannot be numbered or spoken
they have no number or symbol
but themselves alone
as I am alone approaching
as a stranger approaches
the song too lovely for the dance
and though I as air should speak
passing between your lips
to digest the sun your eyes have given
with the mathematics of stars
I am measureless within you
as time before the heartbeat of clocks
I am a word alone without paper
misspelled
a child's letters on scattered blocks
laid bare and inert
formless as a scribble
over there..>
lost time leaking away
collapse not into temptation
grant me/us peaceful solitude
deliver us/me from erratum
inert/confined/lost
entangled in a weary knot
buried in dusty debris
suffocated by icy cobwebs
burned & frozen
begging for deliverance
longing for liberation
yearning to be untangled
thunder over water
deliverance?
lost life leaking into the past
<..over here