Best Optical Poems
Duped by overwhelming desire
perception ends in disillusion.
[Image 1]
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Crystal Clear Contest
Hosted by Joseph May
Placed 3rd
© 1st May 2019
Categories:
optical, image,
Form:
Crystalline
Pardon me Hon, my apophenia is acting up. See,
I have this acute case of advanced pareidolia
Today my two fried eggs formed Munch's 'The Scream' in the frying pan
it made my toes curl, but it seems to have solved my writer's block!
I even wrote a song based upon the compelling rhythms
of my dripping faucet
My coffee foam faces give me daily companionship
and I could write a book on all the tree trunk friends I've made
Sometimes cloud formations help me decide on a stock to buy
or which horse to bet on
I've seen FDR in Half Dome's face after an exhausting day of hiking
I felt strangely comforted by America's most beloved socialist
I've bid on Ebay for that grilled cheese sandwich of Jesus and Mary in a tortilla
sadly, I didn't win either one
I've talked with the rabbit on the moon and spoken to the mermaid on Mars
haven't heard back from either, but maybe I'm not listening hard enough?
Speaking of which…
were you saying something?
written 19 Aug 2020
Categories:
optical, imagination,
Form:
Free verse
Optical illusions
Seeing is believing at least that's what they say
Sometimes though, what our eyes see leads us astray
World banks and their buildings are so, impressive to the sight
Promising financial freedom, while profits, like birds take flight
Political leaders, world rulers, seem so confident giving their speech
Fulfilling their vainglorious promises however, is often out of reach.
Physical beauty of men and women is often just simply superficial
When cosmetic surgery alters images, they end up looking artificial
Actors and singers, superstars, have their stylists and make up on
All are not as they appear, broken idols ever seeking a glory long gone
Religious leaders with their pomp, showing off illustrious vestments
Optical illusions promising salvation while minding their investments
This world is full of hypocrisy promising things but they are only lies
Optical illusions at their best, but it's time to open our eyes.
John Derek Hamilton
February 12,2016
Categories:
optical, beauty, celebrity, culture, meaningful,
Form:
Couplet
20 nods and 20 winks,
it’s all smoke-and-mirrors
me lazy bones think
Swampy eye creatures
say dey got a thousand-dollar discount
sofa solution
And dey gon put me
on a ten-dollar monthly lay-away plan
This 20/20 optical illusion
be straight up sewer smell talking
Old-timey lip confusion,
king crab style slug moon-walking
Dem gator jaw creatures
say dey gon make jobs be penny plenty
Telling dat to a son of a slave,
is bat-crazy
spit
flying out of a man-hole cave
Giving work to somebody in chains,
sho’ do a lot of overhead save
This 20/20 optical illusion,
it got a downright awful toilet smell
Dem publicans ... croc smiling,
all gon be flushed up da river to jail
Every 20/20 lying double vision,
sticky fingers and scaly toes ... swampy sin puppet
twins be flushed down da pit to hell
Categories:
optical, corruption, humor, slam, truth,
Form:
Light Verse
an early summer storm
white flurries over the lawn-
ah,the philedelphus blossoms
Categories:
optical, nature, seasons
Form:
Haiku
Quintessentially phantasmagoric,
her cobalt skies' chimerical fancy
whores itself out for poetry,
sumptuously cached 'tween
a revelation's optical illusion
enchanting white knights
and seducing dragons alike,
her flimflam elusively lofty
& difficult to evermore be captured
amidst celestial spheres of rapture
Categories:
optical, allusion, analogy, conflict, crazy,
Form:
Free verse
I'm a piece of art
That can be hung up
on the wall
But please don't
move me
For I shall fall
Become abstract
pieces of a
different cause
Waiting..
Begging..
To be put back
together like a
puzzle with endless
possibilities
To a startles finish
I am to be one day
put in a museum
With all of life's
other amusing
entities
Being of another
time will ponder
thoughtfully
With bounds of
curiosity
Questions that lead
into stories
Stories that lead
into more
unanswerable
questions
Forever stuck in a
frame
To play the unwanted
game of powers
For sheep's to
follow
Wearing black veils
Categories:
optical, art, jesus,
Form:
Prose Poetry
I wish I could write a poem that rhymes
I've tried to do it a million times, or more
The words never seem for me to come
At least not as easy as it does for some, people
I just don't know what I should do
To get my words to rhyme like you, can
Well one of these days maybe I will
I'll finally write something I feel, inside
Why can't I find these words I seek?
Sometimes I hunt for more than a week, or two
I won't give up just wait and see
One day these words will come to me, maybe
Oh Wizard of Words lend me your ear
Help me to rhyme these words right here, sometimes
I think I can, well maybe I might
Think of a rhyme for me to write, today
No one will ever know my name
If my words don't rhyme or sound the same, way
I've finally come to my conclusion
Did you notice this poem's an optical illusion, of sorts?
Read it again and stop at the commas
Categories:
optical, funnywords, me, write, me,
Form:
Rhyme
phil owed....so, why?
...a...
full loss of why
...be as......
phil awes sophie
...though...
phil lost sophie
...but, the...
full awes...of 'why'
...show a...
full awed sophie
...with a...
full a soap...'hi'
...meaning...
phil awed soapy's...'hi'
...and showed a...
full awe...soap eh?!
...then smiled a...
full'a soap...'hi'
...and both were...
full'a soft tickles
stans sand
Categories:
optical, fun, hello, water,
Form:
Free verse
Global Warming Intrusion
Just an Optical Illusion?
Or a hysterical Delusion?
What goes up must come down
The media drags us all around
Climate Change is of the Sun
It is basically the only One
The Water Cycle takes the Care
of the Gases in the Air
Volcanoes spew out Gasey Goo
Nothing new , this always was
'cause this is what Our Cycle does.
Categories:
optical, nature
Form:
Light Verse
Sunrays dance on waves
playful dolphins leap and dive
Shattering prisms.
Categories:
optical, sea,
Form:
Haiku
My slumbered eyes in endless night hours
make shady groves of translucent memories.
Outlining contour of crescent moon,
dark figures meander my muffled thoughts.
The starry sky suddenly changes
from turquoise blue to champagne color .
Half in light, half in shadow, in a mystic mirror
two souls in grandeur, play roles of a lover.
Enthralled in a universe of rosy clouds
elated ripples cascade passion in their blood.
As strong hands grip in gentle touch of kiss,
in silent whispers they meld in each other.
Silhouettes of sculpted poise, they both pose
a splendid spectacle , a magic in moonrise.
a soft satin dream , a frolick in whirlwind
where white light romances shrouds of dark.
A waning moon peeps in its smiling meniscus
as their moments of fantasy dissolves in surreal.
And then.. greyish gloom breaks into dawn...
My eyes all consumed in your eclipse
lingering lullabies on edges of my lips.
I just saw something that isn't ever there
It's just an Optical Illusion of You and Me .
Dated 19th January 2020
Sponsor Brenda Chiri
Contest Name Picture Prompt
Categories:
optical, break up, fantasy,
Form:
Free verse
Trust me—
When I say to—
Say-may I trust you-to?
Trust-me, I may to-you.
When me-say—
Spihshhhhhh…
Too you—
Trust me—got-to you-do.
Why must we trust got-to?
We must trust you know who?
Know when we must say-you—
You say I got-to shoo—
May you allow me to?
Me must-say—
Spihshhhhhh—to-you—
Trust must know-way to shoo…
Why got-to shoo say-you?
Trust me—got-to you-do.
How may I shoo to-you?
When me-say I trust-you…
Now must may-you-say—
Shoo…
May I say what to-do—?
You-got-to-do trust who.
Trust me—
Say may I trust you too?
Me must say—
Spihshhhhhh—
Trust who…?
-9-25-15
Categories:
optical, adventure, betrayal, deep, society,
Form:
Rhyme
If you look closer, you can see
The creatures living inside of the
Trees and plants and houses too,
Blooming flowers, leaves of rue,
The wrinkles and dents of a worn-out shoe
Can become a face to forever haunt
Or maybe something you truly want.
No matter how hard you try to look
The world is not an open book
Whatever you see isn't what it seems
And maybe it's all just a dream.
Categories:
optical, beauty, confusion,
Form:
ABC
asking for advice,
in the land of the mirros
optical illusion ...!
Categories:
optical, allegory, allusion, imagery, literature,
Form:
Senryu