Best Lamp Poems
You all see a romantic couple kissing
I see a lonely lamp post
You all see the blossom of love
I see a fading light
You all see the spring of love
As I see the terror of another lonely night
THE NIGHTINGALE LOST HER LAMP
Anita’s eyes were brown.
She was the kindest of angels.
Her speech firm with authority
but reassuring with a glass- like
sensitivity; she seemed to know all.
Prompt as a rooster's first crow,
that's how she is.
She stands like a lioness
ever ready to act, a channel
to prolong the patient's life.
Her heart is a captive cog
of dedicated compassion:
as a wife, as a mother, as a Dean,
Professor, and as a nurse.
She stood always regal in white.
Bearing a sanction of life and death
with each shot made by her gentle hands.
She had Tiger eyes for signs and symptoms;
sponges to absorb order and pressures,
she was simply a lamp for a sick person.
Our batch, she handles with iron fist.
Labeled as "black sheep" – for some of us
are noisy cans but empty inside.
Black sheep but later turned into
the cream of the crop. She stood as
our Samson pillars then despite canyons of
doubts and critiques, our batch defies the odds.
Yet, one day a snapshot happened –
She fainted while teaching.
She was brought to the hospital,
scrutinized and observed like
the frog in my sophomore year.
I was one of the nurses who rendered care.
I watched, how the shining light in her eyes
turned to stormy sadness. I have heard
how her sturdy voice now sounded
a tattered tape only syllables and groans,
no more. Her before supple glowing skin
turned a wrinkled ash — all tautness gone.
Finally, she needs only bags of blood
in two days her life passed my Anita...
_______________________________________________________
Sponsor Thomas Martin
Contest Name Show but Don't Tell
Placed 3rd...
O.E. Guillermo
5:15 pm, May 19, 2015
Gently…
lamp posts call me,
to sleep on rainfall’s quilt
as dewdrops, to misty stardust
calm breath.
..............
For Rick Parise: Old or New 8 line MAX
Re-entered 10/3/2016
Buzzing loudly,
Is that coming from me?
Dust and filth in my shade,
Slightly cracked, was this how I was made?
My light yellowed and dim,
The chances of me getting a new light bulb are slim.
But I've been here for so long,
Everywhere else feels wrong.
I'm a girl Of Hundred Wishes,
Will you grant me all these wishes?
May all my dreams come true,
Aladdin.I'm glad,I have
a share Of Your Lamp too.
I'm a girl Of Hundred Wishes,
Sweep my floor and Wash my dishes!,
Bake my cakes, in the oven too.
Go to Work,Back Home ironing,
Doing Laundry,Cooking Stew,
Is that much to ask Of You?
Dear Genie,Much more chores to do.
I'm a girl Of Hundred Wishes,
Roby Williams singing for me,
Enrique Inglesias, is Here too,
Richard Gere and George Clooney,
Minnie's land and Looney tooney,
all around me in a circle,Lamp Of Genie,
Full Of Dreams come true.
I'm a girl of Hundred wishes,
Chocolate Ripple ,so delicious,
Whilst I fall in love,'Amour',
Flowers scenting sweet Odour.
There am i,floating so high,
with the faries in the sky,
I am smiling,No more cry.
I'm a girl of Hundred Wishes,
Clouds are sleeping,Moon is peeping,
Saying 'I Love You',Angels singing
Playing Harps and Violins too.
Stars are dancing,Stars are twinkling,
amongst them,there is You.
Rays Of Light Shining so bright,
Its the Greatest Night,Of Nights,
Wishes Granted,Im enchanted,
Dear Genie,thanks to you.
My Sweet Genie,Handsome Genie,
I will love You ,till I'm Ninety two,
I am leaving On a Rainbow,
I shall remember You.
Charma
Forbidden touch
Among the reddish light
Burning sensation
Chase-
Next Stop F-stop 2.8
Got to get out of the city,
if you want to see the galaxy.
(Be sure to grab your camera on your way out the door,
cause there’s no turning back).
Must escape man’s brilliance,
man’s electric-mind;
street lamps with flesh-light, blue-light, and corpse-light,
lights that hum,
lights that pop,
lights with no eyes,
lamps that hang their heads above the road,
resigned to line and light the asphalt and gutters.
Man’s light pollutes the night,
hides the way out of the city,
that milky way up and out through the sky.
I’ve got to get out of the city.
Shut up behind night's shutters,
you have to leave
if you want to see, what possibilities are left in creation.
Drive hours in the dark,
just to see how far infinity goes,
dust as big as planets
leaving a star-crumb trail
back to the beginning,
before city lights,
before corpse-light,
before man light,
all the way back to that One light
that lit the world with a bang.
Be sure to set your shutter as wide as your eyes,
ready to make room for starlight,
your camera the only passenger.
Leave the city;
no road;
no map;
next stop f-stop 2.8.
Draft 2 May 15, 2020
Shutter Speed Contest
Sponsor Kai Michael Neumann
By the street lamp I savor
my cherry-cola snow cone
while licking deliciousness
from a mound of shaved ice as
I slowly sip its sweet tang
and relish at intervals
nibbles from a lemon bar
whose icing gladdens my tongue
"Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope
Where there is darkness, only light"
~ From the Hymn "Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace" (usually known as the "Prayer of Saint Francis" or "Peace Prayer") by St. Francis of Assisi (attributed) and set in a melody by Sebastian Temple
~The Lamp of Hope~
In dark alleys of haunting fears,
hearts lost to shivering despair,
a soothing glow wipes hurtful tears,
the lamp of hope lights our path.
Old wounds of gloom tended by love,
souls filled with consoling faith,
rivers of joy shine from above,
the lamp of hope lights our path.
Divine forgiveness blooming for us,
bereft of sadness in peaceful bloom,
draped in benign gestures thus,
the lamp of hope lights our path.
May we be blessed with God's presence,
to find redemption in hours of agony,
guiding this world in grateful essence,
the lamp of hope lights our path.
August 7, 2020
In honor of Charles Wesley Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Kim Rodrigues
The night caresses my eyes with the darkness
The only light is from a street corner lamp
Its orange-yellow glow eases my mind
And the calm within the beams is sentimental
Not only does it have a pleasant aroma to it
It shines with an aura of peace and calm found
Only deep in the inside of a soothing easy flow
The evening presses on the edge of its glow
But the light’s power overwhelms the night
But in a calm and gentle way, as a grandmother
Would bring forth a hug to a child once seen
Crickets play their harmonious tune
Outside the circle of soft protruding aura
The depressed find solace here, standing
Under this limited light which shines peacefully
Amongst the warm nights oppressive stance
But now found heartfelt consolation glowing
Russell Sivey
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Bristling yet beguiling winds are
driving snow sheets through the dark,
and, secured by brick and lamp,
I draw a comforter to my breast,
one woven by humanity.
I sense that each quickening gust
is pulling through the loom of time
life's many multi-colored threads.
A hickory brown is borne to me
of ships defying depths and dangers,
carrying dreams and heartaches.
Glistening now--the lucent blue
of fertile, percolating minds
genome maps and software.
I feel the orange of affection,
hearth and smiles and homecomings,
the warmth of song and story.
The blinking silver of fantasy,
visionaries, piercing sterility--
castles, stars, utopias.
Here is a filament of frothy pink
comedies, dances and levity,
play and spontaneity.
The looming strands of swarthy black
necessities, death, and armies,
relentless in their marching.
The golden promise of sacred texts,
altars, candles, hope,
encoded and translated.
Emerging, the green of recent growth,
rites of spring and passage,
learning and inner progress.
With such a large and lustrous blanket
in which to sink, like a new-born babe,
I'll toss some folds to you, as they will
easily stretch from here to there.
The kindly old lamplighter ambled about the village green,
Lighting lamps to add a glow to that Norman Rockwell scene!
Sitting on a bench in the shadows to reminisce for awhile,
He recalled many by-gone scenes that evoked a wistful smile!
At Yuletide, carolers stood 'neath the lamps singing joyful songs,
To herald the birth of The Savior to the happy, strolling throngs.
Huge, feathery snowflakes drifted gently to the earth.
The lamps' mellow glow brightening faces adding to the mirth!
Young lovers stood 'neath secluded lamps in passionate embrace.
Recalling his youthful days, a knowing smile creased his weathered face.
Silver-crowned sweethearts paused 'neath lamps to reminisce.
She'd give him a playful slap should he try to steal a kiss!
Watching kids playing marbles 'neath a lamp was a delight.
How he longed to join them, but they'd think him an awful fright!
Lamp poles were a refuge to which clung the town ne'er-do-well.
On Saturday nights the constable escorted him to his usual cell!
For nigh on fifty years he'd tended the lamps on the village square.
He'd seen just about everything 'neath the lamps' revealing glare.
Now, his soul refreshed with memories, he slowly trudged away,
To return on the 'morrow to dim the lamps at dawn of a new-born day!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
ALADDIN’S LAMP
Used to think it was just a fairy story,
Impossible dream - fun to imagine:
Rub certain parts and it talks,
A genie-image appears and sees me,
And will work for me,
Can transport me anyplace instantly,
And speak many languages.
Just rub the mousepad, upload skype,
Word process from the net:
Computer is the lamp of Aladdin.
The storm of the night was windy
Loud refrains of thunder with lightening
Willow shook with fright hair fell flimsy
Forsaken somehow by electrical power's might
So writing by faint oil lamp light
Thinking of the great who of yore
Read_wrote_under adversity
Strong people our ancestors who our genes bore
Touched in many ways by the storms presence
Oh! The coolness of the air's sweetness
Heavy overcast shading of sun's ray
Great start to delightful day
All plants refreshed ready
Their flowers a host to feed
Casting forth flower and pollen
For the bees, hummers to spread their seed