Best Lantern Poems
Lantern of the Shadowed Glade
In shadowed glades where spirits dwell,
Beneath the boughs of an ancient spell.
A pumpkin awaits, its fate foretold,
By tomes of old and tales untold.
Carved with care by children’s hands,
A toothy grin upon its face expands.
Yet, within those haunting, hollowed eyes,
Lies a deeper truth in dark disguise.
On Halloween, beneath pewter beams,
Wailing winds weave ominous screams,
The Jack-o’-lantern’s gaze ignites,
On ghoulish forms lurking in the night.
He sees the village, veiled in fear,
In costumes worn, yet souls austere,
For lurking ’neath the festive guise,
A darkness deep, where evil lies.
Children laugh with voices bright,
While shadows waltz in ghostly light,
Sinister secrets, whispers heard,
Carried on the wings of a devil bird.
But deeper still, the pumpkin knows,
The ancient lore, the forest’s throes,
For spirits rise on this cursed night,
To dance beneath the pale moonlight.
In solemn vigil, silent, and grim,
The gourd watches, a veil so thin,
‘Twixt shadowed realms of dark and light,
A sentinel of the Styx, in eternal night.
When dawn breaks o’er the ghastly glade,
The pumpkin’s light begins to fade,
In its heart, an ember of infernal lore,
A demonic lantern, cursed forevermore.
'Twas a fortnight fraught with tainted stars;
'Midst mournful tears salting Neptune's sea.
A withered lass swallows internal scars,
'Twixt purist passions removed from thee.
Thoust bravest beloved her soul kept dear;
A buccaneer's quest sculpting pirated pride:
"Seizing Zeus' crown 'neath Poseidon's bier;
A jewel I'll bequeath to thine waiting bride."
Lantern lights flicker past sheltered shores.
Naked thee writhes; nary a vow to don.
Rest not the rues grieved 'pon garish moors -
Whilst honored prayers of thou beau breathes non.
Replete in requiem; Thalassa exhales,
Thine darkened omens proclaimed by thee.
Dying the deaths of thoust betrothed prevails;
Whilst unheard novenas abandons she.
A fortnight chills and the stars grow dim;
Neptune's waters heal whilst God's fingers burn.
A comely maiden torches thy heart for him -
In hope thine's glow reflects lost love's return.
There once was a cool guy named Jack
Jack o’ lanterns attacked his back
Witch Cate blew straight through
Umbrella askew
She saved the famed wizard Jack Black
*The House with a Clock in Its Walls
Sparks aflame my sanctuary
Flickering, roaming glints
Over valleys of bygone years
So long kept in shadows
Traversing the bleakest darkness
Where heat of love evades
As the cool of Prussian blue night
Forms a silky silent shroud
Unravelling threads of sorrow's blinding
Guiding me from night to day
And through the hush, a glow emerges
Soft as songbird's first breath
Now embered dreams ignite ahead
The past melts in morning's hue
And where the lantern's light has led
Hope rekindles burning true
In the shifting air
the sweet scent of candy corn
candle wax burning
All doors are open
an ancient mystery lives
I bask in its glow
go deep
within
your soul
again
to
shine
the
lantern light
within
My fellow pilgrims on life’s path,
I greet you here today
To share a tale of gratitude
For help along our way.
Our best route is the straightest path,
And narrow from the gate.
But most of us went crashing through
As though we couldn’t wait
To see the things in store for us,
The sights that life would bring,
Not knowing that the track is steep
And dangers wait to sting.
A plethora of vistas wait
For those with eyes to see
But fog can sometimes block our view
As daylight starts to flee.
It’s in these dark and tricky parts
Where angels come to play,
With lanterns born above their gaze
To light the hidden way.
And when we pass beyond their light,
Another’s overlaps,
Until we’ve reached the sun again
And crossed the risky gaps.
These angels are but humble souls;
A neighbor down the road
Who walks their path with righteous steps,
And shoulders others’ load.
God bless these lantern bearers!
Without them I’d be lost
And never find my way back home
Despite the distance crossed.
Paper Lanterns
Light
Throws out
Amber kiss
To the twilight
From paper lanterns
Strung on branches
Like glowing
Paper
Moons
7-2-21
Contest: Ninette
Sponsor: Caren Krutsinger
Contest: Say It in Nine
Sponsor: Joseph May
The woman married at a young age
to the eldest son of a farmer-
my maternal uncle and neighbor.
Usually, she woke up early at the crow's caw
and swept the dirt floor of the house with a broom
often wiping it with water and a nura ( wet cloth )
After that she took a bath, changed her clothes
and wiped with water the surface before the holy Basil(Tulsi)
in the middle of the courtyard
as well as the surfaces at the portico and inside the house
where the family Deities traditionally reside.
After these tasks, she prayed the Deities and holy Basil
while burning mekruk(,an incense).
The prayer was once again repeated at dusk
lighting a lantern or candle.
As a routine she grinding,hand-pounding
and flapping paddy,(sometimes cutting firewood)
alone or with a sister- in -law,
cooking food( burning firewood) and serving the family members,
cleaning the kitchen and utensils after the food served.
After these she washed clothes for the family members.
And in the afternoon she wove clothes
at the fly scuttle loom in the outhouse.
Besides, she helped the neighbours in times of need.
She treated her father-in-law and mother-in-law with devotion,
regarded her husband's younger siblings
as if they were her own children.
Many children were born to her
but, she died prematurely at the age of seventy.
After her death I sometimes remember her
as one of the symbols of traditional housewives
of the old past .
.
(Fourth in the Poetry Contest entitled " Mother's Day" sponsored by Benjamin Bartley )
Don’t look into his soul on this all hallows eve,
for it takes just a glance to be gripped by his spell.
What starts out as a dream quickly spirals to hell
where your mind will see things you don’t want to believe.
As macabre and unearthly scenes interweave
you’ll be roused from your sleep by the clock’s baleful knell.
Don’t look into his soul on this all hallows eve,
for it takes just a glance to be gripped by his spell,
then entombed between worlds, death from life will not cleave,
in a state of decay you’ll eternally dwell.
If it happens to you, you'll have no voice to tell,
curs-ed eyes will see all, but your last breath will leave.
Don’t look into his soul on this all hallows eve.
Buy a pumpkin, big and round;
Choices at the stands abound.
Pick one with a solid stem –
You’ll know when you’ve found a gem.
Cut a circle ‘round the top;
Dig inside – remove the glop.
Separate each slimy seed;
Patience is what you will need.
Rinse and dry this pumpkin treat;
Spread them on a cookie sheet.
Shake some salt and let them bake;
Undersalting’s a mistake.
Meanwhile, get your sharpest knife;
Time for Jack to get a life.
Carve a face with sneer or grin,
Then you poke a candle in.
Now your Jack-O-Lantern’s set;
Admiration’s what you’ll get.
While you’re feeling downright boasty,
Munch some seeds, all nice and toasty.
Some traditions never die;
This one has a reason why:
Every year at Halloween,
Jack-O-Lanterns steal the scene!
The consumer products are trilling
But not like this sacred Green lantern
A glamorizing image to behold
On its arrival to the world.
Perhaps there is one secret about it
It keeps on being amazing as it gaze
A little witty whimper
But worthier than gold.
Though it's sighted in my vision
But I swear by the day,
night, thought, and memory
This lantern is real.
Green lantern
A natural kind light for the faithful
humble and kind-
hearted souls.
So colorful as chameleon
So giant as elephant...
So dominating like the earth.
Green lantern-
A symbolism of descendants
from a rear world.
At the end of the thought
was sadness.
When temple lies broken
a little white lotus comes up
on the tranquil lake.
A cute word enters the lone voice,
stands down, collapses, retreats into silence.
A chaste tree becomes a sage
and tenderness of the ash turns into an elegy.
The moon-face has frost on the eyes.
Tears blaze the lips.
Unbounded grief holds the space between
sobs, a bodiless spark.
Moons ago when sleep was a fragrant
gift, the song never touched the earth.
That dream sways like a Chinese lantern
without enthusiasm.
SATISH VERMA
She lights her red lantern again today
Which midnight rain had reduced
To flimsy, gross paper.
Her previous lantern
Had blazed too strong, burning down,
Dying a red death:
She now dares not light fire
When sky promises no rain.
Wet lantern laid limp
Set aflame under the rain
Dead love laid unloved.
P U M P K I N
C A R V I N G
L I G H T E D
G L O W I N G
S P O O K Y
S H A D O W S
F L I C K E R