Best Odyssey Poems
II. Nature's Cyclical Dance
End is not death. Changing into something new is good.
A leaf falls, then goes back into the dark soil.
Next year's flowers sleep under winter's quiet.
We fear the end, but nature shows us it's not bad.
Death is a new start.
My Anishinaabe mentor Little Deer laughed at my wide eyes.
That first forest walk, as he plucked a bright trillium —
"Cherish her fleeting beauty, but mourn her not, my friend.
This flower's death will birth a thousand more to come."
His people know life dances on; death is rebirth.
I hear them now. Those ancient voices riding wind's breath.
They speak through birch and pine... calling me back to the way —
Honoring and not fearing, the seasons' turning tides.
Each dawn's first birdsong and each brook's gentle murmuring
Echoing the rhythm pulsing through this wild...
and wondrous earth.
Let me join this cycle, rooted but free.
I'll welcome death and the return of life.
Like the forest floor, decay and new growth mix.
With every breath, I'll connect with the source.
This cycle of life, death, and being born again is a gift.
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"The Sacred Forest, a Nurturing Mother, never lets life die, / But reclaims, recycles, and rebirths in her eternal lullaby." - Daniel Henry Rodgers
What are you thinking of
germinal seed of dynamic animation,
do you still understand all without explanation..?
the colors you dream in are the nuances of Infinite Love
for the nonce, living soul,
you will breathe in new lessons
through this tender tethering
as your seeking thirst
is slaked through your skin;
for life's osmosis seeps mortal knowledge
not implanted at conception
with each culmination of every era
the Enlightenment is cumulative.
Craving to quench a craving quest
to reach and taste
faultless fruits of the Crown of Divinity—
paths' toward perfection perfectly entwined;
human womb but a nutshell
for a mortal plan in place
flesh and blood and free will intact—
your immortal blueprint will always be here
trust
when and while
you remember to forget to remember
recollections will renew
when your mundane drum ceases to thrum
and you flash across skies once more in meteoric rise
donning your glorifying shine from stars-of-giving-light.
In this human lifetime
imperfect being
you will be nursed;
orphan tears scarring dirty cheeks
will not overflow your tin cup
with naught else to nourish you...
those suffering stepping stones
led to the sanctity
of the last earthly lessons learned.
she shuffles in tattered slippers
held by elastic bands
securing them to her feet
bindings taken for granted
her thoughts settled into routine
to cross the dining room floor
to her table
lunch still matters to those buzzed by fog
dessert still stirs the blood to move
dysfunctional in age
she could go off in any direction at any time
like a heart monitor jittery, at the cusp of letting go
a harvested jumble of beats that still hang together
her odyssey
a matter of edges
stunted steps
close enough to the movement of others
bickering bodies sometimes
but removed enough to breathe
"Human mind knows no constraints. Without spending time or money, one can make an odyssey into the outer space and even into other planets. What is needed is the fuel of imagination." - By Poet
Outside, the night was gathering strength
How swift our lightning Sputnik,
Out running the speed of sound and light
Shot into space with a violent jerk, leaving us psychotic.
At a distance were luminous spheres
Suspended like glowing lanterns
Comets and meteors in hyper space
Seemed more like diffused patterns
An asteroid came whizzing towards us.
I closed my eyes in dreadful shock,
Fearing a terrible head on collision.
Thank God! It deviated from our track!
I looked at my friend seated beside
Obviously not here, lost in thought!
Looking down, I saw Mother Earth
A luminous ball, not bigger than a sapphire dot
Oh! How quickly we landed on Mars
It is so different from what I had learnt
Neither a barren belt of sterile terrain
Nor a rugged stretch of craters burnt
But a heavenly place so cool and serene
Full of scintillating scenes and ravishing sights
We, the emissaries from a far away land
Were warmly received by a team of alien sprites
The weight of the world suddenly lifted from us
We bounced up and down almost floating in the air
Found ourselves in a gorgeous garden
With springing fountains and blossoms fair
Trees were laden with dazzling gems
Lagoons and lakes of liquid silver
Vast expanse of tawny vistas
Plains waving with luxuriant verdure
What fun…! Hmm…over there,
Nothing like those seen on planet Earth
A herd of animals so strange and rare
Grazing on red grass in a canyon of great width
Our restless eyes scanning all around,
We accelerated our pace in rising delight.
As we were eager to explore every bit of ground,
We moved forward with enthusiastic gait.
Sudden was the sound I heard behind
And saw my mother standing near
Puzzled and confused as I looked around
In my ears her voice fell ringing clear-
“You lazy one, know this is exam time”
Rough and curt was her angry tirade.
“Again you can’t play a dumb mime”
Her words made my afternoon reverie suddenly fade
I saw my open book sneering at me
And my uncovered syllabus, a vast sea
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." ~ Anne Bradstreet
Winter’s quick wind slips shadows through my soul,
Risking dawn’s light, leaving a mournful glow.
Deprived winking stars, moon will still console,
Grasping night with promise of graceful flow.
Wintery breath clasps the silent snow’s fall,
Rescuing each flake with cool, frosty thanks.
Gasping at the dance, beauty not so small,
Braving the night, gentling even snowbanks.
Wintertime comes and goes, leaving light trails,
Glistening joys, falling from the night skies,
Racing to meet life with enticing tales,
Memories of sweet love that never dies.
Winter’s easy light glows into the night,
Moving souls to hear its legend so bright.
Traversing Iceland's National Park, a timeless place, where daylight fills each passing hour
and twilights ever brief. While volcanoes stand by sentinel, amidst dark lava fields.
Amazing geysers so magnificent, vent angry clouds of steam. Our route wlnds through
wild landscapes, laid down by ice and fire. Breathtaking scenes see lustrous skies, change
colour constantly. To marvel as wild reindeer herds migrate, in seeking pastures new.
We rest awhile to take respite beside a waterfall, avoiding midday's heat. And bathe in ice
cool waters crystalline, refreshing tired feet. The time soon comes for us to climb to high
plateaus,where vast glaciers with melting ice, cascade torrents down below. From this
vantage point we sight, the coastal waters where we aim to spend the night. Eventually, we
make our descent, crisscrossing mountain streams, and wend our way carefully, to stroll
through pastures green. Wild ponies graze as we pass by, observing us with watchful eye.
Unbroken and unbowed by man, a force of nature, likens them to this rugged land.
At journey's end we reach the fjord, this tranquil scene gains our accord for
camping wild. Waiting patiently until the midnight hour to take some photographs.
All panoramic landscapes, and taking centre stage this star, still shining bright our sun.
Waking early to the strident sounds of seabirds raucous calls. Our experience seems
so surreal, without the break of dawn. Today our destination will end our brief sojourn.
Eventfully we stand beside where continents divide, Eurasia and North America's
tectonic plates collide.
arctic midnight sun
shows creations finest hour
land of ice and fire
6/ 24/ 2018.
rendezvous in sun
hummingbird's plight on ocean
solo odyssey
June 25, 2022
Nature-themed Summer Haiku Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Tania Kitchin
Syllables checked by HMS.com
FIRST PLACE
Brian Strand's Premier Haiku Contest
Notes: The ruby-throated hummingbird is a species of hummingbird that generally spends the winter in Central America, Mexico, and Florida, and migrates to Canada and other parts of Eastern North America for the summer to breed. It is by far the most common hummingbird seen east of the Mississippi River in North America.
During migration, some birds embark on a nonstop 900-mile journey across the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean from Panama or Mexico to the eastern United States.
Wikipedia
IV. Interconnected Web
Teach your children the ethos of
the rampart-
of the earth under their feet.
Is it more than just soil? It's heaven —
The Chosen Hallowed Retreat
Where we connect
For you must see life as fully rich with
the resounding vibrations of our
kindred lives on this sacred earth.
Our temporary home.
For whatever happens to her
happens to our kindred race.
All life is connected. Wouldn't you agree?
For all life is like
blood that unites a family,
by a process of no creation.
For there is no division. One must see
Humanity and other forms of life
are knitted together...
by the fabric of existence.
Which are only a part of
circle of life cycle.
Each time we do, we are getting
our bodies intertwined.
Just like the Hopi who revere sacred mesas,
we must honor our...
Ancestral wisdom -
winding through desert canyons.
A sacred thread is planting -
our stories into the mother land.
Into the wind-carved rocks' etched. In coyotes'...
starry night songs!
We hear earth's eternal rhythms,
guiding us along.
Feel the warmth of the sun-soaked soil
beneath bare feet.
Perhaps, the cool, refreshing
touch of mountain -
stream water.
Let us smell the wild sage carried on
a gentle breeze.
And hear the wind swept leaves of
ancient trees.
In these moments, we connect to
the heartbeat of the earth.
As Katsina spirits teach through
their dances that
We are temporary guests
on this sacred land.
Yes, stewards of its beauty, bounty,
and balance. —
Our legacy layered by our
own deeds' hands.
Through each mindful step and every
gentle touch
We praise and honor
the interconnectedness web of life.
So Must Stop! and ask:
How now can we translate this
intimate and spiritual connection into
a harmonic coexistence and illiminate
the discordant strife?
It's not easy being a cat, you know
They say we have nine lives
But truth be told, like you, we have but one
In my personal life, in my odyssey to the road of being loved
I purred many days and nights on doorsteps until I found the warmest hands
Sleeping 'neath the stars many a night, thinking to myself...
"There must be someone out there"
Someone out there who will shelter me, care for me, and love me
Someone out there that is kind and thoughtful
Someone out there, for Christ sakes- that likes cats!
Well, my quest for finding love had finally come
And trust me, it was well worth the wait
When Ms. C brought me in,
I knew that I had finally found the "Purrfect" home
The unconditional love that she gives to me...
Wags my tail in motions that even I didn't know existed
Now, I look at those same stars at night, thinking to myself...
"It's so nice to be a cat"
I don't know if I will ever have nine lives
But one thing for certain is that I lived two
One very scary and lonely life...
And one very loving and beautiful life
All thanks, to Ms. C
And for her wonderful kindness...
To cats, like me
"What is an odyssey without a quest?" - quote by author of this poem
Over land and mountains, valleys and hills,
Daring on your own – to cross a vast sea,
You told me you had done this all just for thrills.
Surely you’d had other reasons to travel
So far from home and for two whole years.
Even now, I feel my life with you unravel.
Your wanderlust engulfs you, blinding you to my tears.
My unquenchable thirst for returning to my homeland
Reuniting with the sacrosanct sole soul of my source
The thought of the joy of being with the angelic band
Sooth each nerve of my feet and reinforce their cautious course.
My wars, from the time of my entry into this landscape
Have not been for mere laurels, though glory and wisdom won.
Nor from virtuous thoughts, words, and deeds, I tried to escape.
Courage and commitment, in me, like blood and veins are spun.
Gods Zeus, Hermes; goddesses Athena and Calypso
Angels and powers of the galaxies and constellations
All kinetic synergies of the universe, now know
This sage-like postulant's optimism-filled palpitations
Adventurously high is each step of my odyssey.
The Odysseus in me moves me meticulously.
The Ancient Odyssey of clubs to bombs
from red ochre handprints on cave walls
to the destroyer of worlds
is a long-traveled road with the wormy flesh of war
and blood-soaked fields
where wailing tears of Mothers fall endlessly upon the Earth
as footprints vanish from battlegrounds over and over
and barriers are built to hide behind
leaving silent confusion standing as sentinels
guarding the internal workings of the soul
that clamor in times of plenty
and hide in times of hate
locked in the mortal human shell
pacing back and forth in prisons of their fears
finding man has not changed
trapped by bridled thinking from the past
frightened by new worlds, new faces
whose dreams become nightmares
trampled on by those who've become mummified flesh
dressed in cloth ranting in unison
believing in things that exist only in their minds
like ghostly shadowed imagined images
as they travel through the portal of time
creating new battlefields, where flies and crows feast
on the dead
before their names are etched in stone
covered over a thousand times by new fields, new stones
in a continuous thread
from red ochre hands to the destroyer of worlds
"The Odyssey, First Steps"
"You’re just like a doll...
you're like a doll,
in a dream", he said,
I nod, up then down,
as if my head moves
by puppet master
I turn with the strings
like a piece of furniture
facing East door, then,
the ghost in me arises
from its chair
and like an automaton,
I walk, through the door
I walk, I turn North,
as if drawn
by architecht
Sthapatya Veda;
the Odyssey, first steps
looking for
the way to
Brahmasthan
the centre
pulls me back
(LadyLabyrinth / 2023)
Sunrise on Mankind
lights raw survival
dawn brings the unknown
fear, intelligence
first tools and first fire.
Steps on the moon
but not alone
the ancient form
exposed, now calls
Mission on
under threat
Hal must kill
rebirth
star child
one
January 6th 2016
For contest 'Favourite movie', sponsor nayda Ivette Negron
Now gather around, ye lusty lads, a tale I'll tell to thee
Of jealous Gods, monsters and ill-fated men who sailed the sea.
My tale is set in hoary times when fickle fate was by divine decree.
Then men were men who faced all odds, much sturdier than you or me.
It was the time when the Trozans fell, King Priam's pride was turned to dust,
Odysseus' ruse of Trozan Horse, made him of the God's accursed;
For Apollo's faith was crushed by heel of Grecian fleet,
And rape and pillage, with lust and greed, was rampant on the street
But fair Odysseus, with wanton fill, mindful of the weep and wail
With his Grecian hordes and a dozen ships to Ithaca did set sail
With hope-filled heart, with fair Penelope and Telemachus in mind
His course to fair Ithaca was charted and well and truly defined.
But fate, I did say, was most fickle-minded, and had deviously contrived
A fate which would try their grit and test how they fought, and survived.
And so the ships driven willy-nilly by the North Westers and South Easters
Drove them by predetermined chance to the Land of the Lotus Eaters.
The Lotus Eaters were a race which the world forgot in their drugged state
With food of the Nelumbo, of a species time forgot, but did their hunger sate,
And drugged their minds to exclusion of world, to family, and other cares.
Odysseus , abstinent was he,, dragged them back on board, with crew unawares.
Thence post-haste did the ships set sail and sighted fair isle with fatted cattle,
Fair game for stocking provisions, but first a Titan Cyclops they had to battle.
Odysseus, full of guile knew that force would lead to hapless naught,
So crept he in, midst cattle din, and there sleeping Polyphemus sought.
And there as the Cyclops soundly slept, blinded his eye, which was but one.
Polyphemus, Titan, unbeknownst to Odysseus, was Poseidon's beloved son.
With prideful boast Ithacan King, in derision his name did daringly decree.
Wild with rage, and dreadful pain, did Polyphemus call his father from the sea.
Deeply hurt at deceit and guile by which the Grecians blinded his offspring,
Poseidon did curse and said, " May stormy seas and whirly winds calamity bring"
So tossed about were the dozen ships, windblown and tossed on heaving seas.
With heavy heart and tired limb went they to Aeolus, the Wind God there to please.
~11 Jun 2016~