Best Pale Poems
You lay upon the warm wet earth
now ripped from limb to limb.
Your present shape denies the girth
of your form in its prime.
A life cut short and denied its worth
about you ivy climbs,
my love for you evokes the hearth
a bonfire which knows no end time.
Now fallen, slain, cast for rebirth,
the core of you sublime,
an earthly stump, at forest skirt
reminds me of grand times.
Soon, I too will go beyond the earth
recalling passion's prime,
through the veil of life unearthed
my heart returned to thine.
*ballad
A straw man stood fixed upon timber firm,
gazing at Autumn's gilded, moonlit prize.
He, the king of Earth and the winding worm,
she, the pale darling of cold starry skies.
Left in fallow field of harvest' soiled gown,
with sun bleached woolen coat so neglected.
Besotted by her face in freckled frown,
though light falsely owned in Sun reflected.
Few seasons counted in scarecrow's race,
lonely journey, long eons moon must know.
She left locked ever more in Earth's embrace,
while he lay fallen soon in Winter's snow.
Jealous moon keeps watch o'er his button eyes,
from Venus, Mars, and star's envied night skies.
22 October 2019 - New Fall Sonnets Poetry Contest -Sponsored by Emile Pinet
Muted evidence proclaimed the subtle oddities of night
Lunar time should have reached the zenith of its height
No chirping crickets were heard, nor angry feline brawls
Lacking was the rhythmic chanting of nocturnal owl calls
No lengthened shadows grew where they should be cast
The moon, in pale depression, had only risen half mast
Strange and sullen manner, for summer's interlude to end
As though it were lamenting the loss of a beloved friend
Not just physical in nature, but with heartfelt immortal pain
Darkened was the dead of night for one whose love was slain
In grief there is no consolation, the future bleak and ominous
but there remains a hunger for love, one intensely ravenous
Dangling from fragile threads
soaked in suppressed emotions
I weigh my limited options
as flashes from the past flicker
behind a barrier of uncertainty.
In swirling mist I see your hazy
expressionless face. I call out,
my voice cracking under the
strain of persistent instability.
Scornfully stonewalling me
you turn and walk away, while
suspended in the throes of time,
I hesitate, then stop in my tracks
dejected…rejected…hurting...
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A Pale Shelter Poetry Contest
Sponsored by John Hamilton
Placed 2nd
© 7th November 2019
Published in:
PS: It’s Still Poetry Volume II ~ (1 Jan. 2022)
ISBN-13:? 979-8793344418
Ashen was the sky
That rejected hand of sunrise
Sullen was the heart
That stumbled in affection,
Incapable of lauding
Ruby blush of budding rose
And pink passions on horizon
Defying darkened woes.
In midst of a vibrant spring
Her garden blooms curled up
Amid hostile dry weather,
Teared-up, she sat alone
In pathos of indignation
Refusing to surrender
To demands of mendacity.
Crepuscular obscurity
Betrayed her evening
Fashioning night’s reverie
In trickery of nightmares,
As rancor of disillusionment
In ambivalent outrage
Recognized your stygian echoes.
Dead are her feelings now
Stilled in darkened cemetery
In graveyard of misdeeds,
Where spent emotions
Lamenting shattered love
Inscribe finality on tombstone
In epitaph of silent screams
Expounding your infidelity.
Oh, harbingers of cold hands,
Architects of pale shelter,
Glittering shiny metals
Disguising as genuine jewels,
Fear the cry of her angst
Howling soul forsaken
For she holds you in contempt
Of ancient Agape love
And monument to beloved--
The wondrous Taj Mahal.
November 15, 2019
Placed 1st: Pale shelter contest; Sponsor: John Hamilton
Placed 2nd: Strand special 11 by Brian Strand
This Night Under Pale And Pallid New Moon
In sad moonlight I mourn for thy soft hand
for your loss, is more than I can withstand
you were my all, orchard's sweet fruited bough
alone in hollow realm, this heart weeps now.
This night under pale and pallid new moon
waiting in your favorite month of June
each gust of your gentle breeze a godsend
upon this eager face, hope never ends.
Come swiftly my love, eternity calls
from its golden depths, its most loving halls
I hear your sweet voice and beg your dear touch
no other treasure bequeaths me so much
as does this fleeting hour you and I meet
with prayer, I again fall at your feet.
Robert J. Lindley, 7-23-2019
Sonnet, ( Epic Depths That Death My Bring A Lost Soul To )
I keep tripping over hurdles
Barriers forged between our hearts
Walls of a garrisoned fortress
Lofty palisades I must ascend
without crawling on my knees
I admit my faults lie at ego depth
Perhaps it's why I expect too much of you
but I long for the affectionate touch
of your arms catching me when I stumble
and fall, dejected on the ground
When my patience ebbs like ocean tides
your emotions are concealed behind a veil
Please don't pull away from me. Stay,
and I'll soothe your troubled qualms
I keep tripping over hurdles
exposing the core of my darker side
that part of me I cannot hide from your eyes
Can you love me in spite of my flaws?
Will you be my refuge, an amorist crutch?
There's a battle line between us
but I don't recall waging war.
I fear my ways are much too strict
so I'll wave the flag of truce.
Spoils to the victors
when I've breached the final hurdle
With sighing breath across my syllables,
I'm pleading with you for another chance
Despite the way I've mistreated you
would you be a spark of light on my path?
Until I'm sure our love is realigned
I'll keep tripping over hurdles
across each rampart I approach
With hope, I'll reach your garden gate
and wait for your heart to open the door
December 6th, 2019
Pale Shelter Contest
by John Hamilton
`
Love, to you
nothing more than washed away graffiti,
once dripping along the
mismatched bricks of this worn facade
where tattoos mean forever . . .
even when they fade
A clutched lamppost,
scarred and dented, a fake shade of green
meant only for leaning
and illuminating handbills advertising
high rent in the slums,
supports me
As I look beyond the littered gutters
needing a good rain to wash away the past
where you left me standing again,
uncovered, exposed . . .
winter called and thinking it was you,
(it had the same chill affect) I answered
I thought you were it, that thing that I needed,
not a leaking roof draped in a blue tarp,
but the east to my west
when my direction pointed north
until you ran south
taking it all with you
Beyond my control,
you laughed at love, (cackled)
thought you knew better,
cut holes in my umbrella
and then prayed for rain,
while my life was already drowning
You gave it and took it
and with my happiness in tow
on that one way street
where “No Vacancy” signs were misspelled,
drove away, drove away from me,
tail lamps and your heart . . . never braking
11/12/19
Written for the Pale Shelter Poetry Contest
Sponsored by John Hamilton
.
Clouds dot pale blue sky
Playful pups, seals upon back..
Heavy downpour flash
*Note:Click on
"About This Poem"
The pale moon emerged from dark clouds, but I
cared not for its light or beauty it showed.
Grief overwhelmed me, yet I could not cry
though deep in my soul, my tears overflowed.
Oh Moon heretofore whose soft face was veiled:
Like me – had you been enshrouded by gloom?
I see over darkness you have prevailed,
yet here I still stand consumed by my doom.
My doom is in knowing true love has fled.
Beside my dear’s grave, I’ve no words to say.
With dark clouds I will be until I’m dead.
Unlike you, pale Moon, I wither away.
July 21, 2022
For Joseph May's One In Five 2 Poetry Contest
Used line #4 for inspiration: the pale moon emerged from dark clouds
Pearl
Luminous, Pale
Shining, Rolling, Crashing
Sitting in the depths of the sea
Pearl
Light shimmered on the lake at moonrise,
with a breathtaking view that glimmered.
Beneath the glow of Luna's pale luminance,
the night was calm on the banks of the firth
except for the cooing of a lonesome dove,
who thirsted like me, yearning to be loved.
September 10, 2022
Bitesize Poem No52 Contest
Sponsored by Line Gauthier
encompassed in the womb
through darkness, i felt touch
ethereal strums from fingers
against my unborn flesh
as a melody soothed
in rhythmic pulses
from your heart
...it's the only time i felt loved
you gave me life
taught me to walk
two steps shy of death's door
i crawled in the shadows, afraid
cowering in the algidity of a touch
i ached for in outstretch motions
as tiny fingers reached upward
reverting back with blades
that scribbled scores of depth
while trying to feel anything but anguish
...i wished to be unborn
you fed me
ugliness through affliction
of dispassionate glares
as you made me
unlove myself
starve myself
until i was but an empty shell
of what i could have been
...i will never be good enough
you gave me a house
filled with treasures, untouched
clothed me in ridicule
made me learn to crawl
on weakened knees
while filling buckets
with my tears, my echoes
shuddering down halls
where i curled up
and died, unheard
...you killed me inside
November 12, 2019
Pale Shelter Poetry Contest
Sponsored by John Hamilton
paling sunlight dips
beneath the shimmering sea ~
pearl moon on the rise
Darkness is my time,
I dance the starry sky,
I look to inspire,
the what ifs and the whys.
Before the sun will rise,
and the light gets in your eyes,
I will be the shades of grey,
the truth behind the lie.
The coolest of the cool,
the dampest of the damp,
the everything in your dreams,
is everything i am.
I am the pale,
I am the glow,
time and time again I am,
half the world you know.