Best Journeying Poems
In Memoriam Quietly Always Close
Are they whispers, then, settling
So gently upon that slightest breeze wending
Over the granite crosses and statues of cradling angels,
Which stand in their long cemetary rows?
Stating each name of the one passed on with
There-on etched, too, the noting of time alive
And telling of the beloved, who hum there their slow laments;
Who send up colorful balloons to celebrate their love and
Take far their silent greetings in the sky.
Are they lullaby heartsongs, which
Rise on sprigs of heaven-bound light,
So tunefully sweet for love’s addressed, aided
By a league of angellic composers
In their lyrical rounds from above our earthly sphere?
Are these the places of our hushed sympathies?
The places we lay over our dear ones
All the broken pieces of the grieving heart’s still longing
To stay in some way forever near, and, so, we linger thoughtfully
Criss-crossing the undulating final verdigris
Landscape, which embraces the last remains ~
Resting on in heaven’s wait for that further journey going on.
Are these faint mists surrounding
So many hours of our own remaining days —
Which are spent summoning back the stories, the touches,
The eyes that happily cast their glance into our own —
Not truly our tears
Being turned to magnifying memories,
Prayerfully appearing with each
Dusk’s close of day and placid rise of the radiant moon?
Do see that the soundless falling is our aching?
Is a furor — burst of pure, white snow:
A flash of a blizzard, looking nearly weightless,
Landing in silence, but
Incongruously, falling heavily down, into those forming crystalline layers
To dress a seeming lace-like çover over all the stone markers
With a luminous beauty, revealing a metaphor, ineffable
~ Blessed markers of life itself set here before us
Within reach of meeting the Divine.
—————————————————————————————-
(c) sally young eslinger 6/5/2023
(Written for Jennifer Wilson & Maggie Hopkins in loving
Memory of James Hopkins, spouse, father, & friend) Also written with the inspiring power of images of the 9,000 marking gravestone crosses in Normandy, France, and sights of Arlington Cemetary, Washington, D.C.
Written to unaccompanied cello Suite 1 in G major, perfomer Yo Yo Ma
Thanks be to God…
Majestically they've stood since time had its start
rising on a cartographer's global elevational chart
Mountain ranges, wondrous works of God's creation
that eyes have beheld for centuries with fasination
Come along with me on this adventure as my ally
to the towering mountains as they reach for the sky
Let's honor them in our traveling journal of rhyme
penning of their beauty after the challenge of a climb
We'll walk along the Great Smoky ridges of misty blue
much closer to where clouds leave their traces of dew
On to the Catskills, and Appalachians in the Northeast
The States have many ranges, a mountain lover's feast!
We'll journey West to the Rockies to visit Pike's Peak
marveling at the views that tourists call its 'mystique'
We can take the Cog Railway to the top, hike it or drive
Isn't it wonderful that mountains make us feel so alive?
The Northwest's Cascades allow us to climb up three
from their crests, The Pacific Ocean we'll be able to see
Mt. St. Helens, Shasta, and the picturesque, Rainier
For you and I, my faithful ally, will have nothing to fear
Now we'll fly across that ocean to the island of Hawaii
Trek through rain forests and shade of a banyon tree
To the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa we'll go
Then leave volcanic shores in search of mounts of snow
Our destination-Mt. Fuji on the Japanese island of Honshu
We'll reach its grand summit, if it's the last thing we do
Success will be ours, then press on to the highest of all
Mount Everest stands at almost thirty thousand feet tall
The Himalayans are a challenge many climbers have taken
Our adventure'd be incomplete if this one we had forsaken
Travel time is growing short so we must again move on
Up the slopes of Olympus, Vesuvius, and the Matterhorn
To mountain tops we have missed, I'll soon be traveling
and catch a glimpse of those views that are simply dazzling
You're welcome to join me again, as my ally in the clouds
where we'll find complete serenity, away from noisy crowds
August 12th, 2017
Mountains contest
Sponsor: Julie Rodeheaver
Journeying A Temporary Esoteric Plane
As true as it is
And so it be—
Yet
Though one
Of the number
Is no more
We remain perpendicular
To the teeming level plane;
Traveling parallel;
Seeking an enlightening quest:
Though the cold
Dark grave
Lies before us,
It darkness holds no fear—
For ours is a journey of light;
Searching the word
Without wintering end
Nor demise of summering toils;
Knowing that substitution,
Like raindrops, is temporary.
Journeying The Fiery Furnace Of Hate…
Once more and again, our hush harbors of audacious faith,
Studded with rainbow stained panes, have become matchless
To the penetrating beams of the putrefying rays of fearful hate:
Veiling the blessings of the sacred cross’s grace and righteousness.
The wayward children of Satan no longer wear their stained sheet
Scorched by the sweltering flames of God’s desecrated trees---
But scroll with ease into the sacred fold where peace and love meet:
With bowed heads---collectively sowing seeds of Grace on bending knees.
It is said that to forgive an erred human mind, is truly and act divine.
It is said that we must forgive frightened minds oblivious to what they do.
What a heavy burden heaped upon the bloody hearts of yours and mine;
May The Most High God forgive my wanting vengeance for me and for you!
Once more and again, let the fiery furnace of hate be drenched with holy water
from above.
Once more and again, let our earthly sojourn leave footprints of victory, unity
peace and love.
Always prepare for the unexpected!
Just as you want your child to finish school
Outline what you want to accomplish too.
Understand there will be many obstacles.
Rocks can mar the best planned roads.
Next, commit to be kind to yourself.
Every single day brings enough challenges.
Your attitude may become one of your best assets.
Overcome fears by
Forging right through them
Again, remember you are in this for the long haul.
Time and time again, challenges will pop up.
Hone your skills to welcome these interruptions.
Own your part in life’s pilgrimage.
Utilize disappointments in creative ways.
Stay strong when all around you is disintegrating
And you seem like the only one who remains stable.
Never let the naysayers win.
Dreams are to be held and accomplished with sacred resolve.
Mend relationships where you can.
Initiate the peace-making process.
Learn to listen empathically.
Each individual has a gift to offer you.
So gracefully accept what they give.
Be bold in your own heart.
Each tenet of your conviction holds purpose.
Guard the complete structure to form strong visions.
Instead of waffling you will grow more steadfast along the way.
No one is infallible. Be kind to yourself.
Saints have learned to safely tread precarious paths.
With all your strength remain steadfast to your Creator.
Instead of lamenting, practice giving thanks.
Truth has a way of wearing away the most stubborn lies.
Hold it tenderly in your heart and mind.
On those days when your feet ache and
No one seems willing to help you…
Enter into your private space and lay it before Abba Father.
Search your heart and soak your feet.
Thankfully reiterate where you are on your journey.
Each kindness and pain has its place…then
Praise God from whom all blessings flow…
My heart pounds swiftly and sweetly
As I set again home bound
My body is calmed in unreached respite
My soul outruns its line
And catches untouched pleasures
In a little while
I will lay my bent and beaten back on my bed
And rest my burdened head on my mother’s lap
I will savor her supple hands’ giftedness
And look into my father’s bright face
I shall hear again mother’s well-known tunes
That tickled me to thrill
I will walk proudly in the peaceful precinct
Where I am king
All alone
just by myself
I journey through life,
Many walk alongside
but all along I walk alone.
Slowly, steadily
at an even pace,
Resting but a wee while
Milestone after milestone
I walk but wearily
the well-trodden path of life,
Never straying afar
Never wading into the rough waters
Just anxious to get somewhere,
Just eager to find myself
a patch of cool shade away from this
searing heat of the mid-summer day.
No compass in hand
No polestar to guide
No beacon beckoning
No sails set
No winds of the sea
to steer the course
as I voyage through life
just hoping to drift rudderless
into some safe harbor someday.
Every now and then
I pause to look back
and see only my shadow
grudgingly tagging along,
and this winding road
relentlessly trailing behind.
The surrounding silence hangs
like a cold breath in the air
and the waves of the turbid waters
urge me on into its stygian depth.
~"Any New Free Verse Poem" contest
by Lu Loo
It’s caught up, always, in those little things:
street corners, half-familiar: shop facades:
it’s not so much expansive boulevards
as rain-worn roofs which pluck the silvery strings
of sorrow. Part of my subconscious clings
to remnants – ruined fragments, broken sherds.
They say the brain’s an organ which discards,
not hoards. Why, then, these cruel rememberings?
A tranquil helmsman, plotting perfect vectors,
is how I see myself. Wretched delusion!
We’re buffeted by failure and exclusion,
divided into Hectors or defectors.
The only shred of dignity it brings
is when we learn to love our sunderings.
Thunder is irrelevant
When eating cheese.
I find myself trapped
Between the trees
Under the watery cage
Of Koi floating
With lucky coins
In their mouths.
The thunder is coming
Despite the irrelevance.
How disturbing
On such a peaceful stage.
Like the sun and its being
Wisdom knows no dimness
Her light is eternal
And where she is
There can never be
The ignorance of darkness
For like the sun
She shines forever bright
In the inner sanctum
Of the ego of mind
With inevitable truths
Flowing like an enlightening
River from the mountain of
The womb of God’s infallibility
Forever birthing the living word
Of the tree of life
With the divineness of guidance
Always available to those
Seeking her cosmic counseling
And may the source of her flowing
River forever stream my volcanic spirit
Spewing service to all in dedicated labors
Of love and baptizing wisdom being my wages
Far from the prodding eyes
He toiled,
with the wits and strength of men,
like thousand armies,
He bore the world with words
Till mortal frame fell,
dying to all the world calls good,
with the flickering embers of his own dreams,
He bowed in suspense and silence,
Beaten,
Battered,
And broken by death
he veiled his scar,
bleeding,
and the sparkles of life lose their shine in the eyes
save the heat of stale tears,
keep the bayonet in the scabbard,
The wars are over,
Death, it had its power in suspense
from the hung cross, he died to all,
and this, It kills but once,
The struggle is done,
Mourners on the street.
A star is removed from vain toil,
Beaten,
Battered,
And broken.
pain now paean,
the vanity toil is over,
aches now veiled,
Time, passing time.
pilgrims walks thy earth,
unknown, unsought, unsung,
Yet Happily they go.
earth's slavery over.
Pour your jars of unshed tears
into our empty dregs
Mortality transformed,
into another realm
break these iron walls of silence
Speak to voiceless frame now in glory
they look down but not back,
all the silent wishes are over
Cherished dreams suspended!
Speak,
Life is wilting
Speak to time,
ere the Morning comes,
where men says'
Adieu.
sunshine above our head
moonlight caresses our nights
no roadmap no gps
just following instinct
AP: Honorable Mention 2024
When once i was a pilgrim
Whilst following the sky at at night
I fore-took a journey to the promised land
And in so doing one day upon my travelling got
lost in the delirious midday sun amidst the
barren desert
When my legs grew tired underneath me
and my eyes began to shut
Until the last thing i remembered was taking
a napp under the shade the olive grove provided
And sometime in between my semi or unconscious
state of dreaming
A burning bush and booming voice
as clear as day drew my attention to it
Bellowing the answer to the question
you and those who tread this path before you
in search of other worldly treasures
said is burried beneath your very feet
Then just as i fell asleep moment's
earlier i was wide awake once again
And dug and dug underneath the money tree
until my bones and fingers bled and i
discovered the root of all evil
tween her thighs the inner Universe lies lights
comes from within on high
from within our eternal host
quotes to seeded at first into a vessel
From passageway from heaven onto Earth
birth soul inside of vessel flesh so right
For my truest essence not my flesh
but my life light
I am my Father’s Delight
I'm From Heaven and I'm journeying here down to earth
Birth
Father shine on me
For I am your see
as I grow I'm in eternal energy tree
While why I flourish and grow
I shine on this Earth
I'm From Heaven and I'm journeying here down to earth
Birth
flight I am the righteousness of you
A passenger from heaven
We come to earth
through the womb
of our Mother's
tween her thighs the inner Universe lies lights
comes from within on high from within our eternal
I'm from Heaven and I'm journeying here down to earth
Birth host
8/3/24
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr 2024
By your side I choose to travel
Yet this trip I do solo
To the depths of a secret pool
I dive and must explore alone
Such depths far from barren
Things recovered are hard to explain
Like living pearls from the sea
Preciously brought back
Barely seedlings needing care
Please understand when I tell you
I nurture them in my heart
Till they take root and
Slowly grow as flowers in a garden
It’s still early spring but
I look forward to the day
You will notice it beyond the fence
And want to be invited
To walk through my inner garden
As you trod along your own journey
AP: 3rd place 2020