Best Momento Poems
(Dedication: This poem is for Linda,
aka "A Poet Destroyer" one of my
many friends at PoetrySoup online.)
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A curious soul lives in this space:
Moves with a style that shapes good cheer;
Often she gives a boost to trace
More than a smile to works right here;
Entreats our best to word and voice
New muse and sights and sound charades;
Touch brings her zest to sculpt fond choice
Observe the light sparkles she trades.
Meet a sure soul who knows the way:
Open your heart to speak in verse;
Mind your sure goal in new wordplay;
Explore bold art in brisk converse;
Now craft your lines to deposit;
Thrill words aligned with a visit!
Leon Enriquez
24 June 2014
Singapore
Categories:
momento, appreciation,
Form:
Sonnet
On this paper you’ll read what killed our humanity
The simple answer: it died to corporate greed
Our race is alive, our morals are not
But we’re just simply doing what we were taught
We murder and steal, then fine and judge
Our hypocrisy is limitless, criminals don’t even run
We point the finger, right and left
And we’ll point it till we have nothing left
If you find this note on a rock
Look to the horizon to see our Earth
I don’t even know what’ll happen to me
Maybe we’ll figure it out and be actually free
But if you only see space, say goodbye to the human race
Categories:
momento, 8th grade, america, business,
Form:
Rhyme
Autumn moon
Cloudy hide-and-seek;
A celestial play
~~~~~~~~~
Old folks home
In distant suburbs;
Desolate aura
~~~~~~~~~
Moon cake festival
Chinese mid-autumn moods;
A lovers' tryst
~~~~~~~~~
Chinese medicine man
Consult for pain remedy;
Acupuncture and heat
~~~~~~~~~
Evening stroll
Fresh air after rain;
Wet pathways
~~~~~~~~~
Street commotion
Fiery tempers flare;
Accidental collision
~~~~~~~~~
Sundry shopping list
So much to buy;
Procure a helper first
~~~~~~~~~
Stray mongrel barks
Empty park bench;
Invisible outcomes
~~~~~~~~~
Silent conversation
Beyond word sculptures;
Old couple smile and nod
~~~~~~~~~
Windy evening air
Pregnant wetness;
Downpour alert
~~~~~~~~~
Morning wake-up call
Promptly at six;
Awake to awake others
~~~~~~~~~
Business centre
Posh hotel facility;
Empty of faces
~~~~~~~~~
Bus terminal
Crowded sea of faces;
Rush hour pandemonium
~~~~~~~~~
In this big crowd
So many faces;
Yet each feels alone
~~~~~~~~~
Family dinner
Birthday celebration;
A happy toast
~~~~~~~~~
Contemporary times
Music from odd era;
Memory lane buzz
~~~~~~~~~
Pretty girl glides
Magical apparition;
Male eyes stare
~~~~~~~~~
Moments here
Lively seclusion;
Calm rehabilitation
~~~~~~~~~
Leon Enriquez
04 September 2014
Singapore
Categories:
momento, change,
Form:
Haiku
time standing stlll
arrested
moments revealed
in stimulations
of the mind
revealed lluminations
of the past yesterdays
becoming today
tomorrow's postponed
memory
past pictures live again
momento mori in hypereality
as monuments
to past existence
from shadows of transience
sentient touchstones
in memorials of perception
aesthetic sublimations
of immersive
spontaneity
fascinating expectations
in a visual genesis
of suspended animation
still distant
now living again
February 5, 2023 / 2022 Poetry Marathon Qualifiers' FINAL Placement Poetry Contest / Sponsor: Mark Toney
Categories:
momento, nostalgia,
Form:
Free verse
November plays
With rainy moods;
Overcast sky
Audience gathers
Teenagers align;
Protocol dictates
School talk moment
Share the writer's way;
Story persuasion
Curious faces
Sit and stare blankly;
Open box mystery
Play wit and urge
Thirteen-year olds;
"Do what you love..."
Pun with fun factor
Takeaway message;
"Love what you do..."
Exhort tomorrow's crowd
"Dream big. Work on it."
Too late can come too soon
Plant a seed thought
Nurture an idea;
"Work hard to be happy..."
Charm words story
Tale of thoughts happy;
Passion acts out purpose
A day well-spent
Sure poise of voice;
Passion speaking clear
Perfection lives well
Mundane routines veil;
Look beyond bland
Words and visuals
Sensory stimulus;
Heart knows the mind
End of brief tale
Kind applause greets;
Community service heals
Chat with teacher
Check on delivery;
Happy outcomes
Trip here felt good
Sunny weather;
Homebound torrential
Quick meal and rest
Exhausted senses;
Nap to recover
Leon Enriquez
11 November 2014
Singapore
Categories:
momento, blessing,
Form:
Free verse
Momento Mori
Remember you must die
We must walk thru the valley of the skulls
You can get there by using the proper tools
Everlasting life is for the fools
Old age can't be defied
The grim reaper can't be denied
He's waiting on the other side
Knock on the door and he will reply
Sometimes it up to you to decide
Skin will wrinkle, hair will turn gray
Better pray
We are not here to stay
We will need a walker and a beta blocker
Hopefully we don't have a heart stopper
Momento Mori
Remember you must die
Bones will become fragile and break with ease
Trying to avoid getting a disease
Just waiting for a permanent release
From this painful existence that we call life
Have had a heart attack not once but twice
We are just waiting to rot in the ground
Nothing but dirt that's all around
Silence will be that horrific sound
Momento Mori
Remember you must die
In the coffin we must lie
No need to cry
We need to be set free in able to fly!
Categories:
momento, 12th grade, absence, angst,
Form:
Oh come, my love, to tranquil shores
follow paths of lilies
to me.
By light of dawn my heart breaks more
silent teardrops filling
the sea.
Written on 3/6/2015
Categories:
momento, longing, love, sea,
Form:
Verse
leaves fall from branches in the autumn
branches fall from trees a a storm
the tree however knows no time
It knows only day, and night, and that short time in between
when you can't quite tell
what exactly it is.
It is not dawn nor dusk but a moment
one short moment where everything is wrapped up
into a ball of nothingness
and wholeness
everything. one.
But you blink
and POOF! gone.
a fleeting moment
I wonder what the leaves think
as they tumble to the floor
where they become crisp and their brilliant colors fade
what happens to us when we fade
or are we already faded
is our brilliance another illusion of the sun
that tricks the earth in summer
or are we in fact
truly brilliant
Categories:
momento, nature,
Form:
He was a gentle giant - towering
Bigger than the notorious Claus
His jolly and joy were never overpowering
His gift was a reminder of grandma’s
He represented Santa - his love the cause
Categories:
momento, celebration, christmas, december, jesus,
Form:
Quintain (English)
DISQUIETING MEMENTO
Lone leaf upon the earth is red,
amidst the mountain’s grief of dust.
A civil war sent boys to bed.
Lone leaf upon the earth is red.
“War is hell,” the old have said.
Why does it steal the youth, robust?
Amidst the mountain’s grief of dust,
Lone leaf upon the earth is red.
8/30/2017
Triolet Form
Categories:
momento, sad, war,
Form:
Triolet
They say it’s no bigger than a helmet,
Half-sunk in moondust, beside a crater’s lip—
A sculpture of a child's hand, reaching
upward, fingers curled mid-gesture,
as if to catch a star that isn’t falling.
Polished titanium, etched with breath—
yes, breath—frozen in time:
a woman’s exhale as she said goodbye
to the capsule’s cold silence.
Her lover’s ring embedded in the wrist.
Behind it, a glass cube holds
a feather from Earth’s last eagle,
a photograph of clouds,
and a tape that plays a lullaby
in a language no longer spoken.
Lunar shadows shift across it slowly,
like the memory of someone walking away.
No plaque, no flag—
just silence holding its breath
while Earth hangs blue and distant above.
And sometimes, in solar flare storms,
the sculpture hums faintly—
not by design,
but by yearning.
They call it Momento:
Not monument, not marker—
Just a whisper left behind
for the stars to one day understand
that we were here—
and we remembered.
Categories:
momento, moon,
Form:
Ekphrasis
On a road away from here...
Peace vaguely shows itsself.
I'm headed where I shouldn't be
With nothing left, here to fear.
All hope I had has gone away...
My loss, I can no longer stop.
This pain swelling within me,
Is here to stay.
Another day, withers by,
Another hour of misery, within I dwell.
Drowning in sorrow...sleeping in Hell.
Now I just wait to die.
This is my fault, I'm all to blame.
No where left to go that I care to see...
I'll run no more from intracranial torment.
Can't run away from all of this pain.
It was left here just for me.
Categories:
momento, philosophy, sad, sympathy, visionary,
Form:
Glimpse cheery chimes, glimpse charming poise;
Echo bold plans, echo fine feel;
Rise to fond times, rise to warm voice;
Move all you can, move with kind will;
Abide in truth, abide in hope;
Impact and see, impact and be;
Now feel life's proof, now sense life's scope;
Etch love surely, etch sure beauty.
Add lovely zest, add lovely choice;
Note precious fest, note peaceful poise;
Dance your fond quest, dance your fine voice.
Merge heart and soul, merge with sure mind;
Indulge fond feel, indulge fine fest;
Touch now makes whole, touch seeks and finds;
Choice prompts reveal, choice moves fond quest;
Heed happy heart, heed joyous mood;
Explore good times, explore warm trends;
Love flings fond start, love springs pure good;
Live sanguine chimes, live poignant plans.
Leon Enriquez
08 May 2015
Singapore
Categories:
momento, blessing,
Form:
Rhyme
an oversized ego shaped as our head
carved out of a block of translucent gold
a dead tree stump, no longer by love fed
fall of Midas in hushed whispers retold
a wabi-sabi stain etched in blood red
casts on the moon a shadow of deep gloom
of how man’s heart pierced by fangs of lust bled
when ego cravings he failed to exhume
peeping within the sculpture we may see
the star of David, symbol of our heart
of how soul’s light within yearned to be free
but haunted by fears didn’t know where to start
we’re no more but others will follow us ~
our message is simple: board God’s bliss bus
Categories:
momento, moon, spiritual,
Form:
Sonnet
un desconocido
me dio un beso
salvation
a los labios
mi naris sangro
la difusion
roja al mar
flores encantadas
vestido para dar
la beinvenida
conceive y suelte
recuerdo del pasado
de la muerte
condenacion
volver en este
momento
Categories:
momento, allusion,
Form: