Best Janus Poems
Attacked by Janus-faced complexity
My mind responds with functionality
To present either sheer timidity
Or self-entitlement tenacity.
Gripped with hypocrisy’s duplicity
I succumb to boastfulness-dignity
In striving for victorious verity
Achieving, though blown by futility.
Then, playing safe midst glad security
My conscience settles for “low” identity
Yet, that is not true in actuality
Since I’m drowning into dishonesty.
Frailty hides behind pride’s integrity
Such is human nature’s reality
Showing arrogant personality
This besets me in my carnality…
Braced by feelings of superiority
I tend to value self’s priority
Along the guise of false humility
Enclosed by ingratitude’s vanity…
Admitting my guilt of being haughty
Heart of mine confesses infirmity
Asking God* for compassion’s propensity
Indeed repentant, seeking His pity…
Recognizing who’s in authority
I stay in the Saviour’s security
Trusting divine Source of tranquility
Who forgives sins by His grace-certainty...
Now, freed from shame’s blaming intensity
My soul thanks the sovereign Almighty
Declaring I’m not anymore guilty
By His peace I did claim with surety.
Doing best with accomplishment’s duty
Propelled by devotion’s sincerity
I cling to Giver of blessings’ bounty
To check always my wrong audacity.
With the Lord’s miraculous specialty
Transforming me toward eternity
I bow to His life-building creativity
Directing me for kindness-purity.
*James 4:6 "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."
November 29, 2023
1st place, "Pick-A-Title, Vol 40" Chosen Topic and original Title: Janus Face
Sponsored by Edward Ibeh; judged on 12/16/2023
“I hold a delightful being and an undesirable being inside of me.
It’s up to you which one you meet”
~~The Poet~~
dismally destructive
yet charmingly creative
unabatedly chaotic
obligatorily perfection
unsophisticatedly naïve
graciously worldly wise
uncouth and ill-mannered
poised etiquette
audaciously rude
enticingly eloquent
unsuitably slovenly
exactingly efficient
decked in Shabby attire
styled with cultured couture
disheveled, dingy
polished, well-groomed
in company of many in ill-repute
thoroughbred acquaintances
robotically draconian
artistically graceful
Written: November 10, 2023, For Edward Ibeh Contest
__________________________________________
As if to atone, I gaze into the obscurity of my soul.
When I glance back, I feel vulnerable, as in a hole.
A thrilling and ticklish time tumble in the future.
Whilst sorrow stitches, a suspect sears sans suture.
I still wear knit garments, worn with time and care.
The fights I've fought are icons of moxie and dare.
With the things I've done and how stout I've come,
A potent sight of mettle is where I'm coming from.
Whilst a place where shadows gleefully dance.
Where deception is woven in tandem, a prance
Fabrics of lies, woven from threads of deceit.
Embroidered by the demon aiming to cheat
Evil One, with his dirty lies and cruel smirk.
The worst delusion arises slyly from lurk.
A Janus-faced one stays hidden in the shadows.
Mere ambition to deceive and instill harrows
Janus-faced, dicey, dodgy, deduce the scene.
Ambidextrous by a sly smile, sharp gaze, unclean.
A cynical wolf in sheep clothes tricks sans shame.
Their fraud, plotting, and spite reveal obvious tame.
We can't hide the quilt of deceit, an art of smears.
Web grows with each knot, tying souls and ears.
A key prevaricator took delight in havoc, ruin left.
Only heartbreak remains in his wake, and bereft.
With an iron tongue, they lie naively and conceal.
Their faith is brief; it is phony, as they lack ideals.
In the gloom, they thrive with guile and strive.
Twisting and scheming with no regret or drive
But worry not, for honesty will always prevail.
Deception's weave will crumble into a false quail.
Pits of deceit shall cease, and lies will never last.
Truth will heal souls, as lying is torn with a blast.
A grim warning of vile traits shows guile.
Their souls are dark, and they generate wile.
Their authentic hues and pain will never heal.
Stay true and fight deceit with candor and zeal.
JANUS FACE
When looking to my right
I see images of yesterday
Once sharp, now blurred
Yet comfortable in a way
And somehow preferred
But will it always be night
When I’m looking to the left
As today becomes tomorrow
And seeing a hint of sunshine
Dispelling all traces of sorrow
Prospects should now be fine
No longer to ever feel bereft
Looking straight ahead at you
The present moment freezes
You cannot see my two faces
Yet neither expression pleases
I know that your heart races
Can your future I see be true
Tendrils twist and dance, guiltless, unblamed,
getaway vehicle, of the flame-
uncharged of previous transpyre, that's your game.
Like a serpent you shed your skin of the shame
of the red-handed fire.
You greasy sleaze, you leave yourself lingering,
advertising yourself on the byways,
but coy- like a transmitted disease.
Perhaps Prometheus will give you a place to lay low
till things cool down.
Maybe Haefestus knows what to do with your sort.
I think you should go to Hades,
for swaying every which way the wind blows,
you two faced liar.
But wouldn't it also be fitting if you went back to Aphrodite's Temple and returned to those
choking on the burnt offerings-
of their lust-
choking out true desire.
"The Janus Sacrifice"
Janus
opens and closes
the ebbing time
greeted by
two faces
justice
on a coin
flipped
betrayal
loyalty
scepticism
trust
belief
disbelief
truth appears
through
those eyes
walk-ins
two mirror images
stand in judgement
like night and day
light and dark
leaping priests
embedded in the helix
of all of us
rationality and
the illusion of choice
free trials
to taste credence
a final meal
tokens waiting on a table
unconsecrated before a
sacrifice
(LadyLabyrinth / 2023)
Ianus
doorway
Patultius
the Opener
Iancus
the Gatekeeper
Ianitos
keeping track of time
People have two sides
Like The Roman God Janus' coin
A good side, a bad side
A past, a future
One must embrace both in
Someone we love
Blessed with two heads
Welcoming new aims to view
Review-renew old
Quietness all around
Secret actions in full swing
Impregnating soil.
+++++++
May 7, 2014
Form: Haiku
Dr. Ram Mehta
Fifth Place win
Contest: Two haiku on January by Irma, Skat-A
Janus opens the door after a long sleep
And looks through the gate of the past,
Now says farewell to all that’s been done
Until turning his head to the future,
And walks in one direction for all to follow.
Restart has begun and it’s now a new
Year, and Janus can once again sleep.
By Greg Stanley
Entry for the “Personification of January” Contest
Sponsored by Nette Onclaud
Come two faced Janus, lie to us
Bring me to your door, and leave me ambiguous
A sane drunk in the roads middle
Between prophecy and history
The present stands on a griddle
Full of rational ambiguity
We are burning now
Who dream of a happy new year
While to the bottle bow
Seeking anesthesia from old despair
Oh, fallacy of a pagan lore,
Jekyll Janus, will you be also door
And prophet? Mask in the dead history
And usurped memory,
The earth will spin and a new year starts
Around the sun again as youth departs.
So usurper of Mars and Venus, faked
Jupiter, how can you begin
Anything that you cannot create? Wake
Not the ire of the true God to such sin
Yet I must bid you come despite
Since your name on the first month hangs so tight
To our meaningless wisdom and days
A subtle ferment of surreptitious praise
January, new month of beginning
How do I, like you, find new meaning
Or fresh faith for fractured flesh
Recovering youth and dreams I fled?
Speak not! my soul in a new dimension thresh
You affirm the truth sealed in my head.
Shiver if you will, I will seed your dreams, it is my way
and though the days sun may linger longer ...
it will not warm you.
A handsome handmaiden is the month of May
but, I roar and rail, temper tossed and ambivalent
~if you have no heat
~~if you despise emptiness
and do not wander in wonder at the shapes between the lines
do not call my name, Janus …
for I am the God of doorways.
My arms are always open.
May each domicile shiver at my breath
in nail popping fright, as bats harbor in their eves.
I will seed your dreams with portents.
~Rub sticks shorn, and to fire bring the kindle
for, the insight of my light may burn.
Poet: D. Guzzi
Contest: Personification of January
Janus Face
Chaotic dialect set-off back-and-forth
Two contrasting characteristics
One is proven to be duplicitous
Political backing of the other party
Now denies it
A refusal that of a true statement
Two-headed bull, speaks gibberish
But the bull is goaded,
wounded, half-crazed
If the bull could reason,
it would understand
After the matador shows off
assessing the bull
The matador unfurls a red cape
Makes me sigh
Men, and women who stand by the bull
Who want to take away freedom
A kind of deception in which you
intentionally hide your true feelings
Intentions behind false words or
Freedom’s away from women's choices
Of their own bodies!
Immigrants’ work grants and
reforms dissolving
They define our American character
and shared history
They are not a problem we need solving
Doctors arrested for saving mothers'
LGBT rights gone
It’s wrong according to the Good Book
A*** or oral copulation “bad acts”
aren’t limited to homophobes
Hear, hear,
Listen to you!
Invisible self
I’m just a regular guy trying to help you –
but if you go back to your old world, beware,
because there are some tricky guys out there
No freedom for those people
Students’ books banned,
Bullying left-facing taken into their own hands
Shine a spotlight on the humanity of immigrants,
and the underlying theme is compassion
Chaotic dialect back-and-forth
Left-facing a Warrior for the people
Our beautiful United States will not be free at all
If together we don’t stand,
So, divided we will fall
On day 1, I promise to take all social experimentation (affordable housing), woke agenda (ban books), side issues (woke ideology) and throw them in the trash—Ron DeSantis
There's one thing that we have in common— Neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024—Gavin Newsom
Dear Janus-mirrored face,
Sometimes when I feel alone
and highly self-invested,
sometimes when I don’t feel heard
or I do feel under-appreciated,
I also discover
that my challenges are a bit less about Other,
what we are and are not doing correctly,
wisely,
with integrity,
A bit more about me
and my limited wisdom,
possibly compromised integrity,
lack of cooperative and curious
contentedness.
In what ways am I willing,
in what ways am I unwilling,
to cooperate
with a shared Positive,
WinWin strategic
mythic logos?
When we are both,
Ego MindLeft and Eco BodyRight,
learning to follow
our mutually-held integrity
of EarthTribe healing grace
Resonant singing minds
in resilient dancing bodies
enjoying our Janus face.
Who we are in our minds
To show all others in this time
Janus hearts beat as mine
But what she sells outside is not the true person behind blinds
A smiling face, a light walk
Tells nothing of her true hearts
Everyday the same, rain or sun she moves on
Each day fabricated of the last, never changing, never seeing past, past the way we live our lives in this day and time
Following everyone the same
She tells herself in her mind this it, i do belong
But inside her doubt arise
Clouds her mind and maybe her life is not so sublime
Silent cries go unheard for this life is not as it should
Everything laid to waste because of all the greed and hate
It brings her down, makes her mad
Why can't i just be happy
But this is life and i am well
I should not dwell
Smile and wave happily to everyone she passes
Fitting in, belonging
Fabrication of her longing
this is life, this is mine
Follow in step as everyone else
Agreeing and pleasing so no one can see thy true self
Sublimate her life this way
For an easier life gained
Day after day,week after week, year after year
a decade turns to two
The burden of this simulacra of her life, wears and tears and burns her thru untill there is no light
Dark and cold
forever told
Stay in line and all will be fine
But nothing is fine, all is wrong
We just keep pushing on
No one see's, no one care's
Janus hearts are aware, she wants to scream, scream it loud
But does not dare for everyone would just frown
To belong and get along
Agree to all she see's
To be part of this human race
So her life will not be misplaced
On and on hiding well
Deep inside, buried alive to she herself believe's nothing else
I have a face
both front and rear..
see now..as I draw near
I am a door
to this year and last..
tomorrow and the past
I was a God,
some did call me..
their heavenly deity
No longer distant
close not afar..
I now begin a calendar
Brian Strand Personification of January