Best Lamplighter Poems
Written: October 30, 2023, For Brian Strand Contest
______________________________________________
as
gloominess
drops to the ground
the lamplighter performs his
rounds. Equipped with his
ladders, wick trimmer
matches, long pole
and backup fuel
positions the
ladders on
the post,
He opens the lock and trims the wick
and strikes a match to ignite the flame
locking up
the door
he steps
towards
his next
Sentinel.
Through
evening
he steps
his path
merrily
friendly
to those
he sees.
His task
will take
him out
in wind
and rain
the whole
year round.
curious children
watch as each
torch comes to
life with a glow.
In the morning
the lamplighter
is back at work
smothering the
flaring wick set
alight the night
before. As dusk
falls once more
the lamplighter
lights the torches
She was in her early teens
She looked like a bouquet of morning
But twinkles were crumbling in her sheen
The flowers in her eyes looked deserted by the sun
From some source she had heard
I could reorient the windows of her thought
Could guide her to turn her shadows into sunshine
Making her eyebrows and smile free from many a remorse
In the ensuing psychoanalytic encounter
The old began to peep out in the daylight struggle
I tried to liberate her introverted unconscious conflicts
In an empathic elucidation of her secured subterranean world
Abruptly the eye to eye lamp went out one day
‘Today you are a lecturer, sir, not a sharer of my mind’
Taken a little aback at first though, I could then painfully feel
I had in my ardor brought out the midday sun instead of the cool stars
A teenager that day opened a new door for me
Like a poem of love, bread and flowers you have to be
Like many a soft murmur in the playful currents of the deep blue sea
If you are indeed in an empathy with a view to eliminating a deep seated injury
_______________________________________________________________
20/02/2017
For the poetry contest: Younger people who have inspired you
Sponsored by: Brenda Chiri-Carroll
. Firefly's golden light
Welcome beacon of the night
Sparks fire here and there
Like the lamplighter of old
Tiny light that shines so bold.
March 13, 2022
for Firefly Tanka contest
by JCB Brul
Syllable Counter
FIRST PLACE
Floor,
table
to ceiling,from chandelier
to
a
trellis
filigree-
nouveau image
glow
Louis Tiffany's Grape table lamp designed by Mrs Curtis Freschel-was an International award
winer for Tiffany
http://www.tiffany-lamp-uk.co.uk/shop/
A world without light
devoid of sight
A world pitch dark
teeming with fright
What resides in men’s minds
unspeakably cruel, so unkind
A Lamplighter needed
to remove all the blinds
My dear passer-by,
Do not hurry, please!
It will be, as in old times:
all will fall asleep, even the wind,
the merry fellow and deceiver,
and the eternal lamplighter
will silently turn on his magical lantern.
Transparent, lilac light will spread around,
You will hear footfall of invisible horses,
Say «Excuse me!»
if someone awakens to
sighs, whispers.
You will whirl in your happy, colored dreams,
and the organ-grinder will play
the forgotten love song.
The eternal Lamplighter will turn on
a fairy tale for you
in the first evening of spring.