Best Inlaid Poems
Whether ocean or mountain with valley green
or every deep forest in between
My love for Nature fills my eyes
With every creature of Earth and sky
The changing hues on quiet display
From dawn's red light to twilight's gray
With moon that splays its beams so far
A match lit night from a shooting star
The sound heard from a wolf at night
An eagle's glide from feathered flight
The deepest footprints held in snow
And richest colors from a rainbow
Brilliant fire from Autumn leaves
Birth of Spring where nothing grieves
These wondrous things your eyes can see
As you sit below a bending tree
My inlaid heart from Nature's design
I'm another life on her fruited vine
3/13/17 Contest The Love of Nature
Categories:
inlaid, nature,
Form:
Couplet
I have heard the heartbeat of our souls
inlaid in quiet renderings of love's
gentle looks of comfort from the unspoken word
that echo through the rush of time passing unseen
by love's eyes that are caressed by beauty
from coupled hands held firm
as we search the wondrous wanderings of our tomorrows
in silent steps of unison on our journey through life
Where our grateful hearts are free from mundane concerns
from life's continuous drama
for we are secured by the tether of unconditional love
shared without fear of its breaking
as we hold no anger beyond its time
finding the truth to be self-evident
We are enraptured by love's colors
seen through the prism of our hearts
that dance to the melody of grace
across the stable floors of trust and forgiveness
lit by the glorious light of understanding
that when we are together...we are home
8/6/19 contest My Home
the theme... for when I'm with you, I'm home
Categories:
inlaid, devotion, life, love,
Form:
Free verse
"Amid the jagged shadows of mossy leafless boughs;"
I sit alone in the Winter of my life
To ponder, the length of years by my own design
Here in this dim-lit realm of shades
I need to leave love's tribulations
on the barren floor of my mind
and free my soul from love's grief
that flows fluid upon the invisible silence
of wished filled yesterdays that have gone
with my lost horizons painted in fool's gold reliance
Perhaps, I will remember a happier time
when the light of life filled my desires
in rendered emotions of inlaid passions
and dreams of wondrous wonder
Where footprints had yet left imprints
upon the virgin landscape of my soul I once cast asunder
Beneath these leafless boughs,
my amber thoughts lay scattered across my memory
as I wrestle reality away from the illusion
and once again fill my empty eyes with tomorrow
Before my life's Winter comes with its dark cold
and buries me beneath these leafless boughs
next to the grave of the love I sold
11/22/19
contest writing Challenge-3-November
Any Form Poetry Contest
sponsor...Dear Heart-Wisshkobi Ode
Categories:
inlaid, introspection, lost love,
Form:
Free verse
Quite far we have traversed, in pursuit of goals we chose,
Through troubles and trepidations of seasons in throes;
Sometimes reveling sunshine, sometime in glum of shadows,
Always together~ on barren terrains, or verdant meadows.
In albums of yore, we ruminate now, turning pages of life,
Banishing anguish of feelings-forlorn, fuming in strife;
Reminiscing in moments passionate, of love sublime,
Treasured in memories-beloved, accumulated over time.
Harboring wisdom, inlaid in life’s waning phase, as we age,
In realms of reflections, insights-sapient, now we engage;
Learning from knowledge gained, from choices we made,
Accepting with grace, laments of secrets, as yet unsaid.
Regrets unmitigated, voice remorse of unuttered sigh,
Seeking empathy from goodwill of repentant goodbye;
As life tallies good versus bad, that introspections confide,
Eying a tranquil state of mind, devoid of hate and pride.
It’s time to reflect, it’s time to mend, it’s time to befriend,
As journey of life, beaming content, approaches its end;
Living final days in covenants revered, humbly we penned,
Elevating self, in peace of bliss, to heavens we shall ascend.
Categories:
inlaid, introspection, life, memory,
Form:
Rhyme
To gaze back upon footprints of my time
And see the prints so shallow fade to gray
As they dissolve and leave no trace behind
I'll hesitate to look beyond the day
When standing straight is a moment treasured
And hair once full is now a thin disguise
When my skin gains spots and wrinkles measured
I still smile every morning when I rise
When nothings real but passing time I live
And every deed pressed to my heart inlaid
I struggle with the things I must forgive
Before the mental photographs all fade
I'll watch the children of my heart at play
Before my footprints slowly fade away
2/7/14
Categories:
inlaid, age, life,
Form:
Sonnet
The mixture of three poems creating a poetry soup
in glorious splayed light beneath a glowing sensual sunset,
the purest passion of vibrant realms rose when a wish was wished
to tenderly close feathered eyelids when the souls of eyes have kissed
allowing the ravenous breath to breathe the softest mist
when trembling fingers touched the face of love in bliss
perhaps these memories are mere drops dripping from love lost
that now splash upon the earthen floor of time locked in the mind
swept clean by shadows sweeping with brooms made from lonely nights
leaving nothing but streetlamp dreams shattered by unfulfilled wishes
that may have seemed real in a twilight's dance from another time
even so, your memory burns like an eternal flame lit long ago
that now lights my memory like luminous fireflies
as my days become another red thread on the horizon
I will remember you
as the soft light that brought romantic comfort to the darkness
you are the memory inlaid until death
colored by the scattered drops from love lost
that float endlessly in the covering mist of loneliness
that surrounds the haunting face that is yours
drifting through the empty nights in the eyes of my dreams
you are the flaming star that crossed the night sky
etching a trail, burned into the eyes
leaving a warm light that vanished in the dark
with every wish and their sense of awe
that came with love's shared perfection
7/13/18
Categories:
inlaid, love, memory,
Form:
Free verse
The tangled intricate emotion of love
washes a thin blood red line on the heart
where a glow waits patiently
on the winding path chosen
that leads to a treasure we seek
Where the sun rises in a fiery blaze
like God striking a match on our horizon
to light the way
through the labyrinthine corridors of the heart
that we find in the eyes of yesterday
measuring whether tomorrow is more bountiful
than the inlaid scars...from a tortured past
filled with perplexing pictures of false dreams
that left our hearts confused
Today we'll travel through the maze of love
seeking meadows
saturated with purple asters and yellow buttercups
where willowy wisps hang in the air
on rainbow colors of silken wings
as the soul listens
to the sound of our pulsating heartbeat
that flows through the labyrinth of day and night
where kisses are yearning
for ardent boundaries of binding arms
that welcome an enchanted heart
where lifting eyelids surrender
to a vision of lovers searching a sunlit sky
that invites a breathless rapture of treasure
found in the twists and turns of love
Categories:
inlaid, journey, love,
Form:
Free verse
Draped and locked like a curtain in Guantanamo
I use my words to peel scalps like Geronimo
Just like a teen girl my mouth has a heavy flow
If arousal luminesces then I'll make you glow
They're calling me a villain cuz I steal girls like Bowser
Wowzer, think I just filled my trousers
Though unlike the lizard I don't lose them to Italians
Cuz after one night girls confuse me for a stallion
Heart of obsidian inlaid with gold
A tongue of adamantium that stays so cold
My life is a story that's never been told
And I'm hoping that the credits roll before I get old
Categories:
inlaid, beautiful, celebration, death, future,
Form:
Alliteration
Dawn broke
The eastern pink sky
Drew across the stars
As they faded and lost to the night
I called the eagle
To guide me
Piercing whistle
That I learnt as a boy
Running wild and free
I walked in the company of men
High above, eagles flew
The wraiths are coming from the otherworld too
Carrying the angst and pain
That has no place and name
Here at Heartstone
The screeching and wailing
Increased hideously
The tattered cloaks
Scattering the scree
I stood, with the company of men
My bow ready
Arrows drawn
Arm, steady
I have trained to defend
Truth and love
Nobility
Chivalry
The wraiths gathered
The screeching and wailings
Piercing through
To our souls
We are ready
To fight to the end
To defend
All that is true
The flight of an arrow
Unleashed
Steadied by the eagles’ feather
Of brown and gold
It flew
Straight and true
In to the non existent heart
Of a wraith bitter and cold
It was this I slew
A bundle of rags fell
For it is not the metal tip
That killed
It was the feather of a Heartstone Eagle
Truth be told
That slew
A wraith, bitter and cold
The wraiths flew
From behind the mountain
The screeching and wailing
Tattered cloaks
Scattering the scree
They came in their hundreds
To fall
For, truth and love
From a feather
Of a mighty eagle above
Slew the hearts
Bitter and cold
Brown and gold glow
Flashing by
The flight of an arrow
The archers
Standing tall
The gleam of brown and gold
That flew
Deep in to the cold bitter hearts
Of stories now told
Of men of the longbow
I reached
I pulled
Many arrows to fly
Of a star
Of a longbow
Aquila am I
The longbow of dark wood
Felt my strength
As I clasped its’ bronze inlaid feathers
And reached
And pulled
Arrows of brown and gold
Deep into wraiths
Its’ purpose understood
The sky turned black
With eagles that twisted and turned
Of wraiths, slain
Felled by the longbow
Down they fell
In to their own stinking hell
The brown and gold aglow
Darkness falling
The fires lit so bright
In a company of men
That celebrated under starlight
Remember….
This day well
When the archers
Masters of the longbow
Sent the wraiths back
To their stinking hell
Of Aquila
Who slew
More than most
The flight of an arrow
That holds true
Categories:
inlaid, adventure
Form:
Ballad
The lamp outside my lodgings cut through fog of dirty grey,
I donned my coat and hat ready to start another day.
The sound of hooves on cobbles meant my transport was at hand
I stepped onto the pavement as it pulled up at the stand.
Quick turn of the brass handle, creaky door swung open wide,
a short leap to the footplate and I clambered up inside.
The bench seat buttoned velour, colours fading, rather frayed,
long scratches on the rosewood round the Marquetry inlaid.
We bounced and swung on straps and springs and galloped through the streets,
Side window broken in one corner, letting out the heat.
Outside the Quad I paid my fare and stepped into the cold,
and thought 'how many other Derby cabs are quite that old?'
Inspired by an article in today's local paper regarding the age
and appalling state of some of our local Taxi cabs.
Categories:
inlaid, car,
Form:
Rhyme
The wondrous wonder of the wandering sun
crosses the sea's horizon
in red burning skies of morning
then disappears with the flaming flowing clouds of evening
to leave a purple cloak before the night
where star-lit glows drip beads of light
upon the silk-like surface of a moving sea
beneath this sky a glorious hue of moonlight
lays like liquid gold inlaid on the water's surface
as wind-driven ripples rapidly run to the shore
to form white-crested waves from rising tides
which end on a coastline of traveled sand
tumbling ashore until they vanish
into a sea-soaked shore of tiny pebbles and crushed shells
it's here in this quiet serenity of a vast vibrant sea
I find peace in the perpetual motion of never-ending waves
giving birth to the beauty of this bountiful broth of natural wonder
that fills my soul with its beautiful ballet of eternal bliss
2/21/22
contest Form-F-Free-Verse...Nature
sponsor Constance La France
Categories:
inlaid, nature,
Form:
Free verse
To gaze back upon footprints of my time
And see the prints so shallow fade to gray
As they dissolve and leave no trace behind
I'll hesitate to look beyond the day
When standing straight is a moment treasured
And hair once full is now a thin disguise
When my skin gains spots and wrinkles measured
I still smile every morning when I rise
When nothings real but passing time I live
And every deed pressed in my heart inlaid
I struggle with the things I must forgive
Before the mental photographs all fade
I'll watch the children of my heart at play
Before my footprints slowly fade away
2/7/14
contest Footprints
sponsor Carolyn Devonshire
Categories:
inlaid, life,
Form:
Sonnet
Sidewalks
We walked along the sidewalks
that paralleled the beach,
the ocean roaring in the distance
just beyond the soft sands,
an echo of all the waves
that have ever touched the shore,
beating the land
with a living vibration... of sound.
We slowed our pace,
and then stopped.
We were quiet together,
in awe...
of the moment,
that was at hand.
I looked into your eyes and knew
I was lost forever.
Only through loving you,
could I, can I,
ever hope to be found.
I want you,
I need you...
Please, be my wife.
Change my entire life
with your sweet answer
in only a moment,
with only one word,
to be heard...
repeated again and again
in my heart,
in my soul,
in my memory...
from this day until the last.
Our lot in life is now cast,
but not in clay or iron,
or even brass,
but gold,
inlaid in ivory fast.
Walk with me,
not ahead of me... or behind.
Walk with me all the way
from here until the end
of time.
From this day forward...
We will be as one,
in the morning sun,
long past the evening prayer
through the storms
of life both beautiful
and sometimes unfair.
We will also dance
together every night...
until the very last light
and then I will ask you again
in a soft whisper...
to be my wife.
And then I will sigh and say...
"You are the most beautiful woman
in every way... there can be,
that I can see.
I love you... Love, me"
Categories:
inlaid, angel, anniversary, caregiving, divorce,
Form:
Free verse
Translation of Cuppiramania Bharathiyar’s poem: Kannamma, My Love! (Kannamma En Kaathali) by T. Wignesan
Yet another poem by the most famous modern Tamil poet, written a century ago – despite the commonplace imagery – follows in the original very complex classical Tamil prosodic rules in the execution of initial and end-rhymes, alliteration in each line and in the immediate and successive lines as a whole, the inner rhymes of assonance and consonance notwithstanding. The non-Tamil can best savour these poetic and/or musical qualities by listening to the version of the poem set to music, and here sung by Mahathi:
YouTubeFR: Aasai Mugam Jukebox – Songs of Bharathiyar – Tamil Patriotic Songs (It’s the 4th song down on the left column)
Does not the endearing warmth of our mutual gaze – Kannamma
Reflect the light of the sun and moon alike?
Does not the precious circular eye – Kannamma
Dispel the darkness of the skies?
Dressed in deep blue-black silk – the sari
Inlaid with choice diamonds
While in the core of pitch darkness – glitter
The scintillating stars – Dear-Girlie!
Does not the blossoming grove fade – lit by your
Illuminating smile?
Even as blue-tinted sea waves –your
Breast heaves in unison – Girlie-Dear!
Just as the enticing cuckoo call – your
Sweet dulcet tones invade, My Dear!
O! You unspoilt young maiden! – Kannamma!
The bridal feast* has yoked my heart, alas!
You speak of comparing birth-charts* - Kannamma
What avails such astrological omens?
For those who can hardly repress yearning – Kannamma
Might the stars forebode greater bliss?
If our elders will bestow approval – nuptial
Arrangements we will later formalize
Will I be waiting for you, My Dear – to seal
Our vows – plant I this kiss on your cheek!
Notes
• According to Hindu custom, the brides’s family has to offer a sumptuous dinner to the formally-invited bride-groom.
• Hindu marriages are often contracted after verification of
birth-charts, drawn up by astrologers, to ascertain the compatibility of the bride to the bride-groom.
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2015
Categories:
inlaid, girlfriend, innocence, longing, love,
Form:
Dramatic Monologue
Walking at night bathed in the non-light
Of the New Moon, artificial street lights
Marked safe passage along dusty streets
To the central square fountain, half-way home
To the bungalow’s comfort, mosquito
Net shelter of repose. Suddenly, the
Witching hour descended and the lights
Were cut off. Blackness like the iron-rich
Pottery, Bidar-ware, absorbed us
Absurdly stumbling. But again, soft
Filigree, like inlaid silver shining
Soft-glow, whisper-like illumination
Made plain every step. God’s Heavenly
Host star-kiss’d us home to safe slumber.
Categories:
inlaid, memory, travel,
Form:
Sonnet