Best Ocher Poems
Inviting vibrancy as the season changed
Smiley faces bloomed, reopening dreams.
Seeing you there marked a blessed event
Akin to magical when first time eyes met.
Breezing trees heard the whispers of leaves
Flirting with patterns of shadowy sketches,
There you unfolded what love could mean
Planting bold dreams in affectionate kisses
Floating on air in the lilting summer winds.
Blazing colors inspired falling ocher scenery
Dazzling in hues of resplendent paintings
As we wrote music in autumn's reverie:
A seductive beginning of romantic ending
Composed in themes of passionate lyrics.
Mountain tops donned snow-white crowns
Satiating fantasies in pristine landscapes,
Culminating desires into sensual escapes
As the last goodbye lent your heart to me
Ending your visit and our idyllic love story.
Your beat I hear still, but it lost its melody.
Categories:
ocher, goodbye, imagery, love, nature,
Form:
Verse
Whose voices, whose memories are these
That warble in trees, exalting my breeze
Applauding the daybreak's cerulean grin
Where amber ocher designs are floating in
Is that your echo from the cobalt blue sky
Wondering aloud about dawn's tepid sigh
As the morning evoked destiny's knowhow
And birdsongs lauded the blessings of now
When rays of romance in day's golden start
Painted my vistas, charming your heart
A smile you adorned on the saddles of arc
Reminiscent of the past, igniting my spark
I recognize the appeal your passions reveal
In intimate presence that meadows feel--
From way back when in allure of moonlight
Sensuous lips we kissed of an indelible night
Though it was love, it was never expressed
And those feelings afire never got blessed
So they arise to voice what could have been
Augmenting the dialogue of battles within
April 21, 2019
Poem of the week for the week beginning 4/28/2019
Placed 2nd:What was left unsaid contest by Line Gauthier
HM: Your choice (5) contest by Brian Strand
Categories:
ocher, lost love, love, memory,
Form:
Rhyme
Summer’s warmth breezed upon the verdant hills
Quivering golden twilight’s zesty marigold appeal
Scintillating rustling leaves in resplendent prairies
While eventide’s glaring aura emulated your zeal
When leisurely you strolled on tranquil sandy beach
As sun’s amber beams glimmered your footprints.
Delighted by your visit, thrilled in your company,
Reveling your mystique I unfolded your dreams,
Enchanted I revered the pulse of your heartbeats
When every hug blushed the face of your fantasy
As slowly you revealed to me what true love means
Sprinkling hints boldly in flirtatious fervid kisses.
Virgin aspirations soon titillated beats of romance
Inducing seduction in every touch, every glance,
Embracing moonlit desires, gazing twinkling stars
Cuddling dreamy nights through melodies of dawns
As lyrics of sensual reveries wrote our love story
Extolling virtuous yearnings in blazing hearts’ music.
I remember you left amidst autumn’s ruby winds
As ocher themes dazzled, whirling russet leaves;
We treasured those longings, cherishing love sublime,
But the allure of its sensuous vows faded over time
When we grew apart trading ambivalent feelings
And promises, once idyllic, altered their meaning…
Yet, passions still ignite, doting withered memories.
July 6, 2020
Placed 2nd: One that got away poetry contest
Sponsor: Silent One
Categories:
ocher, lost love, love, romantic,
Form:
Verse
The Shaman sits upon the sand,
the sand of ocher clay;
between the walls of ruins tall,
where ancient one did lay.
The sky above, the earth between;
took in her sincere pleas
tinksha’s toned, soft flutes droned,
her mantra’s dire decree.
To be the light on darkened paths,
within the night belayed;
and be the brave dark in the glow,
of God’s pristine light portrayed.
Her life long work no sacrifice
a love of mankind to display.
*One may be of any race or of almost any religion
and walk the Red Road. The Good Red Road is a path,
a way of living. It's full meaning is the way one acts,
the methods one uses, and what directs one's doing.
There is more to the Red Road than spoken word
or written words on paper. It is behavior, attitude,
a way of living, a way of "doing" with reverence -
of walking strong yet softly, so as not to harm
or disturb other life. The Red Road is a pathway to truth,
peace and harmony.
Categories:
ocher, dedication, devotion, on work
Form:
Sonnet
Fragrant flower, Jasmine infused,
the evening breathes comic book laughter,
colors white and green and yellow.
Our heroes, our saviors in bold of
twilight blue and mud red ocher.
Perfume fingers stretch forth on evening breeze
searching for that champion
only to find, beneath primary hues,
a miriad of diffuse pastel hides
beneath balloon exclamations,
our vain attempt to save us from ourselves.
04/22/18
Categories:
ocher, lost,
Form:
Free verse
ellipses tremble
trace in waters
a deeper kiss than this
though deeper still
revelling in waves
sunken, slips
heavy under
starry-starry lights
i feel tall
those empty hollow places
that leave me under your skin
all deeper to the sound of standing-still
deep ocher core
Categories:
ocher, allegory, art, introspection
Form:
Dramatic Monologue
The Testaments
Behold, the essence of aubergine and a trail of sparkles yields the moment to radiant reds, like a breasted robin of autumns abandon legions in crumpled layers, impaled to moisten saffron petals and chartreuse fronds,
Strewn against a capricious path that points to a dusty field in white, ebbing the tides of a wintry breath, facing an arched hall of a supreme grandiose silken veiled sky,
It distributes elegance and beauty and cast it hither for its righteous placing, neath the surge of an ocher spread of sunflowers, that escort its mentored Sun,
Offering to surf a periwinkle wave, with broad sets of sprawls entertaining a receptive ivory sea of crested puffiness, wooing anointing doves to joyously immerse creation toward its pure dawning rise of scriptures souls.
2019 September 11
*1st Place*
Fall Into Fall
~~Chantelle Anne Cooke
Categories:
ocher, autumn, day, inspirational, life,
Form:
Free verse
Midnight envelops the pillow
where her head rests sleeping
as each shaft of moon light glows,
umber and ocher traces,
through the satin nimbus of her hair,
gently caressing her soft cheek.
The billowing gossamer of sheer veils,
like phantasms, take flight
with morning's sigh
through the open window,
while the shadows dance playfully
through each beam of light.
She stirs but a moment when the cool murmur
tickles the lashes that smile across her eyes.
Smiles of the wonder of life once lived
of friends once known,
now, mere dreams that taunt her
in early morning slumber.
She, once the consummate ingénue,
naive of life's sorrows,
innocent of the pain of affairs
lived and loved and broken,
lies like a babe in mother's arms
cradled in the bosom of her warm haven.
As the sun scales the scaffold of early dawn,
its light scalds her eyes
and harsh reality again awakens her.
With painted face and perfumed breast
she is no longer the innocent,
for life demands tribute and she pays her debt.
Act II, playing the part comes easy now,
the soubrette, her new role,
her transformation complete in the light of morning.
Hiding her doubts behind coquettish trifles
She makes it through another day,
only to await her midnight dreams.
11/18/2018
Categories:
ocher, angst, depression,
Form:
Free verse
Once lit by flickering torch light
with animal tallow mixed with ocher
daubed on subterranean rock walls
now lit by streetlights or LED headlamp
slashes of spray paint and magic markers
splattered on concrete bridge abutments,
boxcars, or walls of tenement ghettos,
but the message is the same
we were here.
Categories:
ocher, symbolism,
Form:
Free verse
Memories on Branches
There is a time that I recall
a memory I hold so dear
a place to keep my wandering soul
to find a God or use my mind
and search for peace outside the void
I found a cabin made of wood
and furnished it with only good
to lay in repose for a destined time
the face of Winter will arrive late
to allow me time to meditate
I walked outside my quaint abode
and felt the cold breeze in the air
covered branches of ice and snow
spreading its arms to say hello
my cheeks are red my sweater white
the sky began to cast a light
the sunshine came and smiled at me
the warmth on my face as an omen of love
that Spring will come to change the days
I sauntered in the early Spring
toward a leeward path where bluebirds sing
and apple blossoms here and there
bearing pollen for the bees to sate
and someday an apple will emerge
a natural friend in Edens field
the branches will sprout baby leaves
as children in a novice site and a raindrop
will nourish the promised land
anon to be joined by its brothers of Rain
Summers dew is in the morn
Sols hot hands have touched the earth
and fauna come to quench their thirst
and by the Water of Llfe I join their quest
to bath in its glory and drink from its gift
it beams on the lake a reflection of blue
and fish swim by a butterfly sits on a rose
to strike a pose for Currier and Ives
I’m overwhelmed by the sight
but I long for the coolness of the night
To rest on a branch and stare at the Moon
to await a new season that will be here soon
Autumn has come and has splashed its hues
from the color of leaves it has given the news
as they fall from their branches and lay on the ground
a tapestry of color is drawn in ocher, brown and red
I continue down the path with a same colored shirt
with loose fitting pants being held with a belt
I have blended with Nature and created a Psalm
a song for ages for I have become a beacon of light
a guide for all seasons to give me a sign
My memories have colors, sights, sighs and cries
and feelings of highs to see what can change
without fear or strife
as my world dissipates there is no fear of death
just an unending breadth of Life
© Ralph Sergi
Categories:
ocher, seasons,
Form:
Dramatic Verse
His skin is coated in red ocher,
making it hard for his enemies
to notice him midst termite mounds.
He wears a headdress of cowrie shells
and ostrich feathers, for his battle
is a special day like weddings
and initiation.
His eyes remain as steady as the Sun,
reflecting greatness he sees lying
before him….
……………………………………………………………….
The lion's fur is wildly free in disarray
proudly displaying its untamed nature
to the approaching hunter under the hot sun
The lion yawns blissfully unaware
of the battle that's about to come
to an ordinary day like any other day
a lazy afternoon nap
Yet the lion's instinct is as sharp as a knife
picking up movements in the grass
with its tiny rounded eyes...
A Collaborated Poem with Teddy Kimathi
Copyright © 2016 June 18th
Categories:
ocher, adventure, africa, animal, culture,
Form:
Narrative
Scribbling with amber-colored crayons,
time scrawls sepia on ancient rocks.
And ocher and orange canyon walls
rise above bushes wearing dust frocks.
Flora and fauna are left behind
serpentine rapids swallow the ground.
And white-water murmurs ricochet
off cliffs that echo the slightest sound.
Sentinels, sculpted by wind and rain,
create a maze full of twists and turns.
And embedded crystals of pure quartz
make monoliths sparkle; as day burns.
Red tints the Colorado River
shades of scarlet, where rusty rocks bleed.
And crimson waters rush to the sea,
grinding gorges at a breakneck speed.
A star-studded sky of twinkling lights
forms a backdrop for a pocked-faced moon.
And ebony spills into the chasm,
encasing all in a black cocoon.
(Quatrain)
2/23/2017
Categories:
ocher, adventure, beauty, color, hyperbole,
Form:
Quatrain
Coronation
I looked up at the azure sky
A figure glided up above
I sat and gazed to see it fly
As to create an act of love
It slightly dipped its wings to sway
I looked up in the azure sky
It closed its wings as if to pray
Projected body up on high
It stopped then swooped; I mouthed a sigh
To watch it swirl and set a course
I looked up in the azure sky
It picked up speed with all its force
Expansive wingspread ocher brown
The mighty Eagle zoomed on high
The regal bird bestowed its crown
I looked up in the azure sky
Andrea Dietrich Contest
January 29, 2016
Categories:
ocher, bird,
Form:
Quatern
Great Goddess
In fertile essence you were shaped
Upon your head
ambiguous braids were draped;
Breasts as mountains
Belly the great giver of life
Monthly cycle an ocher fountain
Created from ancestral strife
Venus of Willendorf
30,000 year old
Archetype Matron
of Mother Earth
Corpulent bestower
Of genesis and birth.
Categories:
ocher, art,
Form:
Ekphrasis
Saffron Summer
Golden sets of surfs surfaces delve a surreal saffron sky,
Sands surrender shoeless soles that traipsed an eclipsing trail,
Amber rays supremely herald as an ocher beach comply,
Gild glitters halcyon flocked doves sprung free a summer's veil.
2019 May 12
*1st Place* Trophy Winner
YOUR BEST QUATRAIN
~~L MILTON HANKINS: Judged 2021 August 14
*3rd Place*
NA re-run
~~John Hamilton: Judged 2019 June 27
*3rd Place*
Summer Quatrain
~~Caren Krutsinger: Judged 2019 May 19
Categories:
ocher, beach, beautiful, imagery, nature,
Form:
Quatrain