Best Invoked Poems
In embrace of your love, blossoms my eager night,
Strumming themes romantic fervid passions recite
Invoked by scarlet-eventide glinting arc of twilight
As final breaths of dimming-day golden rays ignite
Signaling to emotive vibes twinkling on starry skies
Now’s the time for constellations to bedazzle eyes
In magenta, red nebulae buoying upon stellar seas
Navigating tides of joy as smiles of Venus appease
When enamored we stroll lauding exuberance of glee
Bequeathed by dreams, mystiques of desires spree,
In missives of forever-love verses of hearts decree
Responding to overtures, aspirations intimate plea,
Giving voice to latent hints echoing proffers of soul
Vying reveries esoteric sensuous heartbeats cajole
Prodding us to waltz, to rhythms of nocturnal tune,
Attuning beats of hearts beneath love-struck moon.
May 10, 2023
Placed 1st: Couplet Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Sotto Poet
Tell me a tale of humanity
Paint me the love of your life
Show me a path to humility
How a man should honour his wife.
Help children believe in magicness
Describe the warmth of a smile
Feelings invoked by happiness
A tree that’s been watching a while.
Explain the pain of solitude
Gift me the smell of a flower
Tease me with dreams of magnitude
Sights that are seen from a tower.
Convey the sound that a river makes
Define your fear of the dark
Textures and tastes of a freshly cut steak
A walk with your child in the park.
Interpret the touch that a lover leaves
Recount the flaws of your youth
Depict a man with his heart on his sleeve
Confront and search out the truth.
Weave me a yarn with your poetry
Spin me with poetic release
Take me away with ingenuity
Fill my mind and my soul with your peace.
Image credit: Wikipedia
People amble by in view of the placid lake
Mesmerized by horizon adorning scarlet
While not far from the Oak tree, I stealthily lay
Enthralled in musical repertoire of Blue Jays
As squirrels run wild in a purposeful race
And searching for food woodpeckers peck.
Trust me when I say they are no friends--
One by one they devoured my mates
And now here I am, the only one left--
Thanks to the kid who curiously picked me
And threw me away in callous disdain
Landing in a pit just a few yards from the lake
Still within grace of the golden daybreak.
My endurance burned in hot summer days
And resilience ached in stormy, rainy haze
Till cooler nights met dewy vibrant dawns
As resplendent vistas autumn witnessed
And falling colors floated in evening breeze
Burying me in cloak of fiery-red leaves
For semblance of warmth in winter forlorn.
In misery of wet, cold my core utterly soaked
As I almost lost hope of sanguine heart echoes
Until aura of life the young spring invoked
When my roots formed, sprouting new growth
And slowly I up-rose in a delightful world
Marveling rising skies of ruby brushstrokes.
April 24, 2020
HM: Strand Pick H Contest
The last acorn poetry contest
Sponsor: John Lawless
Sweet fragrance of moist dew seeks to transpose
white carnations, baby's-breath, red roses.
Heartwarming blooms called upon to compose
striking overture, fond bridal poses.
White carnations, baby's-breath, red roses,
their fervor takes the breath away with grace.
Striking overture, fond bridal poses,
romance of harmony at glance embrace.
Their fervor takes the breath away with grace,
with deep yearning invoked by nature's thieves,
romance of harmony at glance embrace.
Wisp air weaving like silk through trembling leaves.
With deep yearning invoked by nature's thieves,
heartwarming blooms called upon to compose.
Wisp air weaving like silk through trembling leaves
sweet fragrance of moist dew seeks to transpose.
10/3/2017
Enjoy the silence, the deep of night.
Not true silence for the word itself is illusion.
Still yourself enough to hear.
Listen for the sounds invoked in the darkness.
Quiet yourself from the inside-out
to perceive more.
The insights revealed during such muted moments
slow us, granting peace and serenity.
Night is a living entity brimming
with sound and industry.
Work, machine, wheel and gear.
A train's low grumbling engine. Its doleful
horn carried mournfully on humid summer air.
The machinery of life resonates. Those working
graveyard hours commute, clock-in, labor.
The stark trumpeting of a siren carries
over the numbed ears of a slumbering city.
A harsh, grating street sweeper toils
joined by the ghosts of twilight
on hushed, shadow-laden avenues.
Voices, song, and music in the night.
Crickets saw a faux-string melody.
Leaves rustle, sweep, and dance
a quiescent refrain on puffs of easy air.
There are drums on the silence as
approaching clouds roll with thunder.
Rains follow.
The timbre of water bubbling upon earth,
rooftop, and walkway.
A great horned owl takes flight.
Its wings "whip, whip, whip," as it directs
the late night aria.
Savor this appealing chorus of sounds
as an all familiar nocturne.
The sounds of silence enrich and help
make tranquil the human heart.
Being part of its lyric, we are calmed
by nature's chorus.
Even the weighty rumble and earsplitting
rasp of thunder can soothe the heart at night.
We are a part of the sound and silence always,
and in all ways.
Sounds in Silence
Free Verse
I realize limitation
Is an illusion.
My destiny is without
Boundary.
Looking,
Beyond death. Beyond the periphery
Eternal Incarceration
Cosmic chaos is cooking...
Infinite combinations
In infinite situations
Attuned yet unaware,
A universe of oppositions
Frequency and energy
Space, matter
A spiraling dichotomy.
an ascending epiphany.
11-27-14
PLEASE COMMENT!!
CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK, (pos. or neg.) CRITIQUES, OR ANY SUGGESTIONS
I also enjoy simple lists of words, descriptors of an abstract reaction
describe the feelings or ideas my poem invoked or left in feeling or thought.
Even on word. is better than none. Thank you
Sabers of the light…calm and friendly in showing appreciation…exuberant energy to burn…New powerful self-defense…Energetic straight forward shooter…Logically love applies knowledge…inventive soft gently touch…Good physical desires…honest. Takes care of friends…vies for creation…Spiritual presence…Broods introspectively…lies serene…Immature…Never candid…deep emotional feelings…appealing light this magnetic balance…Reverse logical concepts…killer communication…Naivety’s…Enthusiasm…Systematic it is…sabers of the dark.
What say Gabriel…earnings from Raphael…never die Uriel...Send see Miguel…incorporated thee…Immortal Ye…wielding the shield that heals…invoked spirit…Lord only you…sending current energy…Pick ultimate belief…regarding all possibilities…Inside guide…teach soul lesson…Master situation…in every challenge...negative influences…draining diet…Spirit overcomes…best house matter…Overcome challenges…does now be renowned...Ye’s turning point…Saber of light overcome.
Clearest light…rooted in tree…eternal force be…Alluring optimism…telling you light is...Force full you be…listen carefully…Omni Prime see…weathering the storm…Intentions warnings…new impulses…Gains in perception…through self-touching…Humbling to Ye best…others support you…Unvulnerable master…romantically open-hearted…good in crisis…having wins Ye battles.
The Pact!
True love intact
headstone unravels all,
their land infertile took them both.
Invoked.
© Harry J Horsman 2012
Scented smoke from sandalwood upwards rose
As the venerable sage in yogic pose
Chanted arcane, esoteric Vedic prose.
The Sylvan glade with marigold and rose,
Where the doe with its deer fearlessly goes,
For its tranquility the Rishi chose.
The ancient mantras of mysterious force
Stirred up the Asuras, put them in throes,
Invoked the Deva, who blessings bestows.
The demons destroyed, there were no further woes,
The sage sat in peace his sagas to compose.
Born thus were amanuenses of Epics, I suppose.
~ 10 May 2016 ~
Long before the ships arrived
Bringing European man,
America’s native people
Dwelt here and loved this land.
Great Spirit was the name they had
For the God that nurtured them,
They asked his blessings invoked his name
And sent their dead to him.
They organized in time of need
To give them strength of numbers,
Co-operation between the tribes
Often numbered in the hundreds.
The concept of nations was known to them
And today you can see it still,
As the bundle of arrows in the Eagle’s claw
On our country's dollar bills.
Their numbers greatly were reduced
By foreign plagues they couldn’t fight.
Then they got a bitter taste
Of the white man’s technical might.
Tribes died in droves as they fiercely strove
To hold on to their land,
But courage and pride could not decide
The battle for the doomed red man.
Exile or slaughter was their only choice
In this unequal test of wills,
Lush river camp and forest home
Became rocky barren hills.
Today they languish on reservations
Where life is often bleak,
But some do not accept despair
Their pride they vow to keep.
From a tortured past they have emerged,
And are proud to teach their young
Who they are and what it’s like
To speak their native tongue.
They haven’t lost all their history
Enough survives today
To see themselves as a people again,
And put their culture on display.
A nation healing and on the ascent
With reason to be proud,
As they don their dancing finery
And show it to the crowd
Then you should see them dance !
My stars it’s quite a sight,
When they start to whoop and holler
Your hair stands up in fright.
Yes the tribes are back and I am glad
We didn’t wipe them out,
These original Americans
Still have much to be proud about.
O foolish Amerikan klan,
who hath Klux bewitched thee with pale poof?
Kluless to the celestial truth,
Love immutable is infinity grand
Children of the Aryan band,
what doth the dark star say unsooth?
Thy divided house is quaking from the foundation to the roof,
as incantations of hatred are caste by thine hand
Stir madly the black cauldron with thy ladle iron brand ...
knowest not, thou Jim Crow vows are dove uncouth?
Universal love is the relativity proof,
yet thine mathematical impurity will cancel thy hexed land
Inverted cloud 9 chanting brings triple digit reign; slow death quicksand,
cursed cause invoked by thou warlock heirs of John Wilkes Booth
Mix the enamel pox potion from thy bittersweet Cain rotten tooth,
let angry spirits from boiling brew be vomit spilt upon thy Endora strands
Thus, the mirror of time will show the cold reflection of thy fool’s errand;
ought not all ayes idol-ly stand by, and watch thy seance plight aloof?
The cherry blossom over the Osaka River in Osaka city,
Keeps the castle overhead mesmerized in its beauty,
The pink and white blossom sparkle and shine on nice Spring Day,
Like the stars glowing from supernova in an explosive way.
The spring has heralded its arrival in a magnificent way,
The blossoms bend over to greet the sightseers in Japanese way,
Reflecting its beauty and majesty in the river,
The snow-covered mountains turning green in its wonder.
Cherry blossoms are so reflective and full of charms,
Romance and pleasure have been invoked forever in hearts,
The painting of woman in red and white kimonos picnicking in the park,
Blends the vision of the painter with nature’s most beautiful art.
In the nighttime, the castle is illuminated in nice colors in dark sky,
The cherry blossoms radiate their own heavenly charm in dark sky,
Songs of nightingale make her divine in moonlit night,
The onlookers hope that they would not lose such a beautiful sight.
Throngs of people view the beauty of blossoms, in sheer admiration,
So intricate, they can only be designed by God in heaven,
Butterflies drink its nectar,
Bees and hummingbirds spread its pollen to needy in nature.
On a spring rain, or a windy day, the blossoms depart,
They fall, leave the tree, signifying transience of good life,
The blossoms will be celebrated in dance and art,
I will wait till next spring, to see the cycle of rebirth in life.
In clutch of loneliness she wasn’t alone
For grief always readily came along
When her happy path destined for love
Detoured sadly to lovelorn mirage.
He was an affluent handsome man
Yet, wealth of life he didn’t have
Being fueled by an unworthy heart
Poverty of thoughts reigned inside.
She found love when love was elusive
But elusive was the love she found,
Though she chose a budding ruby rose
Alas, its splendor had prickly thorns.
Summers of bloom she longed for
Agonized in gloom of monsoon storms,
When colors of love autumn invoked
Trees of joy shuddered in wintry throe
And leaves of affinity began to fall
Spreading glumness on pristine lands.
Silence she endured spoke volumes
When solitude starved for dialogue
And harmony of voice echoed discord
As overtures to reconcile faced a wall
While everything right, yet so wrong,
Left her feeling she doesn’t belong.
Passions her own, warned of trespass
When unrequited lure yearned romance
Attempting to litigate a case long lost
As hope of despair mocked her heart.
November 22, 2020
Placed 2nd: Juxtaposition Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Silent One
Ruby winds were breezing about,
Graceful ducks were crossing my path
Slowly, slowly in a purposeful walk
Curious of a cute fawn scurrying along;
There I paused, watching robins dance
Twittering and twitting songs of joy
In harmony with people ambling by.
Up there upon the blue garb of eventide
Sun was sketching a spectrum on arc
As evening was donning sienna brown;
In yellow rose-blooms some stilled awed
Some stayed glued to pink-lotus pond
Gazing beauty of gracile white swans.
When orange-glow invoked amber vibes
I lingered at your gazebo a millionth time
Charmed by echoes of sensuous revelry
In whispers of hints from coral peonies
Lilting in your garden of flaming red lilies
Pulsing your heart’s passionate greetings
As fervor of the night chased our dreams.
Whispering to me, “meet me tomorrow”
You divulged to stars how sweet love was
Crooning its praises quite a long time ago--
Before we met for tea on your porch,
Strolls in the park, rise of purple dawns,
Before you waltzed desires of romance,
Before you owned the beats of my heart.
June 14, 2020
Placed 2nd: N/A Rerun-9- by John Hamilton
A falling star met butter fingers,
kissed the pavement rain,
scorched threadbare pocket cloth,
dream vapour in the wet.
Dark smoke was all it brought
to dreary eyes of pain,
and tears crept with sloth
ancient as the sky.
Fresh bile around the grilles,
steaming sweet purgation,
foretell a future day
by entrails of clairvoyance.
A seeing eye fulfils
my blind imagination,
all cats by night are grey,
analogous charcoal shapes.
Someplace else, another room,
where I can spread like plague,
or go unnoticed, lean
old driftwood on the bar.
Sometimes you leave perfume,
a promise bloused and vague,
to linger sight unseen,
I sling my hook to home...
...where you supplant the reasons,
a spell invoked and blissed,
to conjure my induction,
becalm my raging sails.
My angel for all seasons,
components sorely missed,
in spite of this reduction,
no less my world, my love.