Best Permeated Poems
Walking through the land of shadows
wearing my yellow shoes
With each and every step
I created color and hues
The shadows started retreating
As color permeated the ground
Out of the shadowy darkness
I heard a horrible sound
"You do not belong here
I command you to go away
You are in the land of darkness
You must listen to what I say"
I kept on moving forward
Not sure what I would see
Where was the voice coming from
I looked behind a tree
Light and color expanded
Traveling up straight to the skies
The entity that so scared me
Was right before my eyes
As my shoes banished the darkness
The entity was reduced to tears
Without the aid of shadows
He couldn't tap into my fears
I then reached down to touch him
I told him that he was safe
He looked up with confusion
As I gazed upon his face
"Are you here to destroy me?
Have you come to take me away?
There is a purpose for shadows
They create hope for brighter days."
I heard what he was saying
The shadows have their reason
In order for spring to come
We need a darker season
So I removed my yellow shoes
Watched as the shadows returned
It was time for me to go home
With this strange lesson I had learned
I stand here by the lakeshore, and I smell
fresh honeysuckle as I kiss the rain.
A memory that I cannot curtail
wafts bitter sweetly to me, and again
it’s May. . . the night you came by the moon's light.
The air was permeated by perfume
from blossoms colored innocently white.
But now it’s summer; yellow is each bloom.
When plump upon the vines, sweet berries, red,
will be swooped up by birds - carried away.
I stoop to touch a stem. How soon has fled
my flowered youth, and now this day chilled grey.
I bow in downpour like the vines bent low
while raindrops - glistening with my own tears - flow.
A Debutante’s Ball to Remember
In the autumn of my life, oft have I recalled that superb summer night,
when I finally experienced my long-awaited heart’s delight.
Family and close friends were all ready for my entry into society,
to celebrate it with a grand debutante’s ball filled with gaiety.
In a dreamlike state, I felt like a princess with a golden crown,
making my grand entrance wearing a champagne chiffon gown.
With matching gloves, and a pair of satin shoes on my tiny feet,
my auburn hair was adorned with butterflies and posies sweet.
The ballroom was magically transformed with gas lights all aglow,
and a glittering chandelier reflected on a highly polished mahogany floor.
As the orchestra played, my body and soul were enraptured and consumed
by its rendition of Ravel’s enthralling “La Valse” which pervaded the room.
Elegant ladies were all dressed to the nines in exquisite pastel gowns
of winter white, baby blue, powder pink, pale peach and beautiful browns.
In tacit competition to out-best each other, social charms were well-honed,
as they daintily fanned themselves and gossiped animatedly in hushed tones.
Refined gentlemen in their finely-tailored tails navigated the room to mingle,
keeping an eye out for eligible heiresses beautiful, graceful, and single.
Wafts of mild masculine colognes came from discretely dabbed faces and hair;
while the fresh feminine floral scent of French perfumes permeated the air.
Armed with a full dance card, I waltzed the night away with ardent admirers,
curtsying and coquettishly smiling, moving on to more exciting suitors.
My enchanting evening climaxed with Strauss’s “Vienna Waltz” filling the hall.
Oh, what a tale I will have to tell as my granddaughter prepares for her first ball!
11-21-2014
Contest: Your Favourite Old Poem (06-08-2015)
Sponsor: Shadow Hamilton
Placement: 1st
Contest: Ballroom Delights (12-16-2014)
Sponsor: Isaiah Zerbst
Placement: 2nd
Atrocious affliction trembles voices of anguish
Brewing vile horror in death of tomorrow
Fearing for the newborn, women, and children
For yesterday’s massacre killed her husband
And the war-torn town screamed in agony
Wrapped in rags of shattered hopes,
Quivering hearts of disassembled valor
Incapable to assuage a hapless mother’s sorrow.
A lone crow caws atop heaps of rubble
Amplifying appetency for affinity of life,
Abjuring the blood thirsty hiding in disguise
To rob any remnants of civility and pride
From dismantled lives, walking shoeless,
Upon splintered glass littered in broken paths
When pigeons too left the desolate grounds.
Dreams once auspicious acquiesce to nightmares
Within awry silence of a burning dawn
As the allure of a new day inconsolably cries
When her only surviving child dies in her arms.
Divinity won’t absolve them of despicable sins,
That echo from playgrounds, shuttered bakery shops,
And the shrieks of families mingling in market
Where aroma of fresh bread once permeated air
And warmth of hot tea glasses greeted the day.
Wary footsteps march slowly to the other side:
It’s a bit safer there where a wedding is planned--
They don’t yet know, the young groom has died,
In a senseless war lost in poverty of thoughts.
Written: October 15, 2019
Submitted on 1/22/2023 to:
2022 Poetry Marathon Mile 25 Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Mark Toney
Placed 1st: Crazy A’s poetry contest
Sponsor: John Hamilton
Required words in the order included in this poem:
Atrocious, anguish, assuage, appetency, auspicious,
awry, allure, absolve
Placed 3rd: Strand choice poetry contest by Brian Strand
My love for you is magnified
By the curvature of my tears
I'm lost within the corridors
Of my loving you all these years
My tears are not filled with sadness
They are permeated with joy
You have helped me become a man
Who's connected to inner boy
Within the chambers of my heart
My true self has now been revealed
When you live beside an angel
There is nothing that can't be healed
I dance within our memories
Anticipate the ones to come
You're the source of my happy tears
I don't regret a single one
For Flo's "Sing to My Heart Contest"
"In the echo of silence, the whispers of the Divine are heard." By Rumi
I entered the winding path into the captivating vale
Surrounded by ice-capped mountains and ancient trees
Firs, larches, redwoods, spruce, and ash, all grand
I shouted in glee: “I’m here!” All around some Echo replied.
A repetitive Echo, always vibrating and mesmerising.
What a singular sound to hear nature at its best!
I lounged beneath the shade of an old maple tree,
Where the verdant vale lay sprawled in front of me.
Balmy breezes blew through dark green trees, an Echo divine.
Tiny thrushes flitted from bush to bush.
They permeated the vale with their familiar songs.
Occasionally they rested on a dense bush,
Hush! Did I hear the song again?
Choirs of echo resounded all around the lush plateau.
Down on the majestic plain, a babbling brook meandered
Towards a clump of cottages, providing water for all.
The rivulet was a sight with fronds of ferns unfolding.
How delightful to hear the water emanating such dulcet echo
As the stream zigzagged around rocks and small waterfalls.
Every echo ended in silence profound and I was in God’s peace.
A holy hymn hummed serene: echo after echo, all divine.
Placed 1
Where did my life go ?
Oh, how I would like my life back !
It seems the fabric of time has developed a crack,
and through it, I seem to be falling.
Every day, work, work keeps on calling
and my days melt, one into the other,
no time to do all I must cover.
Hours are so few
For all I have to do.
Very little to remember of this one’s day
For they are all the same.
No longer a life, no time for play !
Work, work, work is the frame
of reference, routine of little variation
is my life, sometimes a little creation.
This is where my life has gone !
Work, work, work and nothing beyond.
it has penetrated, permeated my dreams.
Work, work, work, no escape it seems ?
B. J. “A” 2
June 3rd 2012
Not long ago, one midwinter day
The sky was bright blue, not dull winter gray
It lured me out, from my hiding place
For a welcome but needed, much change of pace
Heel-hound in tow, we made our way
into the woods, that clear winter day
The old path we knew, still cloaked in leaf
Lost gold dropped by, last autumn's thief
Hardwoods were sleeping, silent and bare
Fresh winter jasmine permeated the air
Large hawks were watching, small critters play
Each was enjoying their warm winter day
Through woods, through meadow, then 'long the creek
The harbinger song of a distant grosbeak
A rare flock of turkeys ordinarily at bay
Dropped in for a visit on that winter day
As the day and the sun, began to tire
My companion and I, headed for the home fire
Relaxed and refreshed, no longer blase'
We owed it all to one warm winter day.
1-9-2019
It seems that politics today invades nearly every aspect of life,
And creates forlorn misery, pitiful stress and needless strife.
We can't enjoy sporting events 'cause its even permeated the sports domain,
All across this great nation from California to the rocky shores of Maine!
Over-paid athletes kneel when the Anthem is played, which is their right,
But doesn't this dishonor the nation whose heroes died to guarantee that right?
Seems to me folks could express their grievances with a shred of respect,
Sans demeaning the flag and leaving our cities torn asunder and wrecked!
If it were in my power I'd KNEEL at the sacred grave of each hero of this nation,
And I will KNEEL in obeisance to God Almighty in my daily supplication!
And if I had it to do over, I'd again KNEEL to ask my love to be my bride!
I'll STAND when The Pledge of Allegiance is recited with beaming pride!
I'll STAND when the National Anthem is played, heart covered with my hand!
And I'll STAND and salute Old Glory anywhere it is displayed in this land!
I was honored and privileged to serve this nation in uniform for thirty years.
As I see the scorn for civility in the country today, I'm almost brought to tears.
Walking through the land of shadows, wearing my yellow shoes
With each and every step, I created color and lovely hues
The shadows started retreating as colour permeated the ground
Out of the shadowy darkness I heard a most horrible sound
"You sir do not belong here so I command you to go away
You are in the land of shadows, you must listen to what I say!"
I kept on moving forward not sure what I would see
Where was the voice coming from? I looked behind a tree
Light and color expanded, to the dark sky it did rise
The entity that so scared me was revealed before my eyes
As my shoes banished the darkness, the entity was reduced to tears
Without the aid of shadows he could't tap into my fears
As I reached down to touch him I told him he was safe
He looked up with such confusion as I gazed upon his face
"Are you here to destroy me? Have you come to take me away?
There is a purpose for shadows they create hope for brighter days."
I heard what he was saying, yes shadows have a reason
In order for spring to come, we need a darker season
So I removed my yellow shoes, watched as the shadows returned
It was time to head for home with this strange lesson I had learned
Dirty Hands
My white hands are dirty
Even if I don’t realize
My burdens light like my skin
I haven’t had the same trials
The house I live in
my manicured life
The things I don’t have to think about
While oppressed brothers deal with strife
Stolen lives, blood sweat and tears
Things haven’t changed enough
over far to many years
“Jump down turn around, pick a bail of cotton”
Innocent men hung from trees
We should beg for forgiveness
But it’s black men on their knees
Prison population permeated with colour
We haven’t looked out for one another
We have to rethink “Who is my brother?”
No child should be without their father
Each home should have a dad and mother
To many lives that are broken
A few black women
get a job as a token
but heaven forbid
If they’re ever outspoken
“Things are more equal”
You must be jokin
Is that some kind of White Privilege Puff you’re smokin?
Even though I’m aware
I’m not sure what to do
Still I know I can’t pretend things are equal for you
But am I truly able to face what is true
Old ways of thinking are starting to renew
I’m afraid of where we are heading to.
White power resurgence
Watch out for that person
standing next to you
Now they want to stop your vote
They say “We’re all in the same boat.”
So why do you feel fantom fingers around your throat
Your tunes are being sung backwards
While to many are left with a sour note.
More white washing
Coat upon coat.
To many are losing their hope.
Surely,
I had met those eyes before—
They had permeated passion with no pause,
No effort, no time in between
They had gazed upon what they knew was theirs—
Every kiss ended with another
I have known your soul in this sorry world,
And yet here you are—a stranger!
A magic indefinite
My senses expand,
As I remember when I was yours
Purely yours, as far as hearts pour
As easy as a glance
An astral romance
There, there!
That stare!
That stellar look of want and wonder,
Crossing your open lips,
A fair curve and a twist
A twinkling, and then I marvel
At the possibilities
Of the lives
The souls
The hearts
The Love
All ours!
What is this magic?
How far have you been through these galaxies?
Surely you have seen all the world by now
And worlds I have yet to know or remember…
But in these own eyes,
These own eyes of mine
What do you see?
I sob inside,
At the thought of your hollowed reality
For I feel you have no clue
Who I am
Who we were
After all these years,
These eons,
These worlds,
All those kisses
Embraces and wishes
I pictured this present moment
In yours
Today I fixed my gaze upon the sun itself,
no longer blinded or taunted by its presence;
intoxicated and bewitched by your splendor.
A minion of the moon; always beautiful.
So easily you lift me past the midnight of my soul,
lighting this heart by the mere bidding of your word;
and I gladly dwell in love’s labyrinth,
feasting upon sweet anticipation,
loving you; I hunger for it.
Through your whispering bones,
I am absorbed, permeated by waves
of infinite seeds of pleasure,
as I walk through your storm dissolving;
fainting in the arms of ecstasy.
My tongue has pronounced it;
just short of dying.
(AKA - "Becca Baked My Birthday Cake")
Surprise! Strawberry scents permeated the air.
Mountains of creamy pink lured fingertips.
Bewitching chocolate with fresh fruit inside,
Luscious and succulent tempted watery lips.
Enlivened young children could hardly wait.
Tiny little fingers did not hesitate.
Dipping in the icing, a lip-smacking delight.
To tell you the truth, neither could I wait.
Fluffy and moist, strawberry infused confection.
Delightfully melted on the first tasting tongue.
Four layers baked had delicately arisen.
Delectably glazed before delicious had sprung.
It was that yummy year, and homemade birthday cake,
She showed me through baking how her love pierced my heart.
Fresh fruit decorated cake with special designs.
Chocolate dipped strawberry delight, her loves’ impart!
She walked along the warm and salty beaches of a Bahamian dream, while the radiance of the suns kiss danced on her honey baked skin quickly painting a caramel hue of beauty. She illustrated the kind of beauty that his wonderings were just surreal of the real queen he crowned. She was not the usual epitome of the beholder, but in his eyes, she permeated his soul that soaked through every space once filled with fantasies of melancholy that were nightmares of a dream. She restored his happiness that was void but had been resurfaced by her glorious existence.
Now he did not quite showcase the handsomeness of the handsome but in her eyes he caught the salty streams that walked down her face many times but now exhibiting hope of despairs fear of joy and peace of a piece of his lost but resuscitated heart. With future wonderings, they are their personal personnel of the task, job hired by the almighty of heavenly white without any shades of pink slips between iridescent fingers entangled as one beautiful piece of lace that laces their hearts. Their destiny is only determined by an infinite possibility of infinity that may be…or not.