Best Powders Poems
Lord what I'd give to go back in time.
Meet historical legends Wyatt Earp,
Or Jessie James, let them leap off
The written page, and live again.
Rough riders, shooting the colt 45,
Learning swiftness by the draw.
Badges brethren, gather up,
The madman’s posse,
Gun powders equalizers,
In there bloody hands.
Wanted men, flee to,
Parts unknown,
Horse thieves, and
Cattle rustlers,
Trying to evade the long,
Arm of the law.
Fate decides whom lives,
And dies.
It makes no difference,
Innocent or guilty.
After all it is life’s truest rule,
An eye for an eye, blood shed,
To give the devil his vengeance,
Behold survival of fittest,
Heavens gates, are made from,
Twisted metal.
The hangman's tree stands ready,
Hollow nooses swing in,
Destiny’s winds,
To bid found ado unto evil men.
Strong limbs bare heavy weight,
A scaled balance of ropes,
Tenuous strength.
Blind lady liberty turns,
Her gaze away.
At histories hesitation towards,
Real justice's justification.
Hard men ride ahead,
Leaving behind
Legends tin stars,
Amongst trail dust,
Remnants.
Behold the old west breath's,
Again,
Between books binding,
And words harsh black ink.
Hardened steel vs. freedoms,
Expansion.
BY: CHERYL ANNA DUNN
Badabee bada boom
Cabaala vroom vroom
Up in the sky
I fly on my broom
Valleys and vales
Over dry hay bales
On wispy clouds
My twitchy broom sails
By the moonlight dim
Those sighting Grimm
I search far and wide
They’re my next victim
Dissecting their hearts
Burying other parts
Potions I make
For my dark arts
Green red golden & blue
Tonics in every hue
Sparks fly while I invent
Myriad concoctions anew
Turning mice to owl
& Hounds to fowl
Transformations galore
All of them in my bowl
Powders that enchant
Varied pills for penchant
Chinkaara hula hoo hoo
Incantations I chant
Yes I am a Sorceress
Conjuring spells and curses
Necromancy, black magic and voodoo
Excel in all, with me don’t mess
my sanity seems to unravel
like frayed shoe-laces on a rainy day
I keep tripping on in the mud
but when I go to tie them
I find myself barefoot
rooted in an unsatiable lust
for something other than reality
a blood-letting of sorts
a scream that dies
before it escapes my throat
my struggle is not one of boredom or regret
rather a confusing mixture
of powders, pills, and mind-control
and some weird state of non-commital emotion
a dark ocean of something mistakenly called
anti-depression
I’ve never really been in control
but I fight with a might that might surpise you
and win most battles and lose most wars
realizing too late that I’m the only one
keeping score
another day of willing the sun to stay down
to allow me to drown
in a dreamscape of something greater
inhibit my feelings or leave me alone
this is something I’ll always fight
alone
To the legendary teacher I pay tribute
For imparting live voices to the mute
You paid gratitude
To the multitude
On the mountain top you stood
And all the heads understood
You never said ‘Never’
As admired in Geneva;
Tremendous work for real
Remains in me a thrill!
You explored the world
Left in me a living word
Instilled sight onto my mind
In place of being blind.
Domesticated me where I went wild
I lost you – I remain worried
Your education
Was a dedication
For my emancipation
Through marked participation
Hot springs of wits gush out of turgid mazards
Thus; unleashing veracity poses no hazards
From the famous profit and loss account
To how elasticity of demand is paramount
The art of blending species of flora in the gardens,
Merging ideas to console those carrying burdens
Powders mixed to thwart the woes of gout
For chemical blending of dust into ceramic tiles and grout
Artistic laying of tiles with no doubt,
Farmers add granules of compounds to combat drought
Mixing small grains into carling draught
Or into flour and oil for palatable dishes and crust
Spinning of the ginnery, linen craft
Crafting aprons which the chefs trust
Perpendicular tors of triumph echo from Arithmetic
Beneficiaries seducing lasses with cosmetics.
Rhyming rhythms of iambic pentameter;
With 13 amps flowing – records the ammeter,
Or 6 000 amps of the high voltage arc
Fusing rival elements into the Ark
Compelling hard cores of high resistance
Leaving them for complete ‘non-existence’.
We had signed the Teacher concession;
Of study, participation and concentration,
That was the ‘Moyo Treaty’.
Though the exam is always tricky
Finally we dilute the concentrate
Textbook to notes - our carbohydrate.
I recalled my teacher through secondary
That he knew no boundary
He taught to set apart
What had been one part
He taught negative effects of Mainstay,
But God has the main stay
That death has a long stay!
Water is enough to stay!
In that his last essay
He scribbled a lot I can’t say
Keys of wisdom I surrender
We can’t be put asunder
Teacher – pupil
Your words I fulfill
I can now feel
A gap I can’t fill!
Zorora murugare, Lala ngokuthula!
All around us
It’s an epidemic
Man-induced plague
It’s a conspiracy
To hook people
To non food foods
Eats that should be
Technically inedible
Anything to grease the wheel
Of factories and consumerism
Nothing grown naturally
Nothing from a farm
Heavens no
Promoting foods whipped up
From powders and chemicals
None of those
Vegetables or fruits
Or other live stuff
Let the population thrive
On plastic derivatives
Deceitfully charming
Taste buds everywhere
Inducing dependency
Decomposing corpses wandering
Like loose time bombs
Waiting to explode
AP: Honorable Mention 2023
Come caroling on Christmas Day, my love.
Hark merry sounds, one spirit sings as two.
Rise carols high above white turtle dove
In flight with cardinals of reddest hue.
Sing loud of peace and joy and jingle bells
Together as we glide o’er sparkling field.
More music blends with wind and wintry smells -
All spice, pine cones and tasty treats concealed.
Snow powders us in magic, soft and white.
My hands and heart are warmed by you so near.
Until the day retreats in full moon light,
Sing tenderly into my loving ear.
If New Year, like a thief, takes you away,
Could you return to me 'fore Christmas Day?
Written 12/9/15 for Andrea's Something New: A Christmas Sonnet Acrostic Contest
You said you saw the pastor
hiding in the corner of the shabby church
smoking, and looks worried
That Windmill turns no more, quietly stands
Silently prays and loudly mourns
For it never forgets how people scorn
That old car parks by the roadside
Pieces of paint, peeled and flake off.
Traces of rust, tell the stories of long gone trust.
That rocking chair at the front porch, screeching
Sings songs of lonely, only winds can understand
That old tree stands firm in the grassland
Treacherously tells things we can never stand.
Red bricks and concrete, scattered on the ground
describing the cheerful moment when
pieces of broken hearts were found.
That smiley wolf wears a three-piece suit
patiently tells kids the value of being mute
Weeds, powders, and pills
Have become the ingredients of feel
You said that you saw the pastor
hiding in the corner of the shabby church
smoking, and looks worried
I see the sounds of praise,
rushes away in a hurry.
Adroit Android
Somewhere between the outer limits and twilight zone
Operating within acceptable parameters of functionality
Sam Android, according to his name plate
Etched along his metallic neck and back
Came from outer space with an agenda
He did not come to serve mankind
He did not come in peace, either
This android had something other on his mind
Programmed by another species
In their image and intelligence
Sam Android gathered information of a certain kind
Reconnaissance of metals is what he is exploring
Shopping for refined alloys and powders
Our scientists wanted to dissect him like a bug
To see what makes it tick with little love and lots of tricks
Androids do not like to be touched by strangers
Clearly printed in the manual he came with
Our technicians studied it and everything found on his space ship
Before they flipped its switch and turned him on
Once activated, there was no off switch, no turning back
Sam had two bright cobalt eyes that came alive
Absorbed everything in sight
In that cold and calculating way of extraterrestrials
It moved quickly with precision and intellectualism
In a nice calm voice it told the soldiers and scientists to move back
When they did not, and by the way, it only said it once
Then opened fire with a laser gun
Penetrated all the walls of the facility of knowledge and higher study
We learned a potent lesson about adroit androids from outer space
They are clever, savvy, do not like to be touched
Or say things twice
We must listen to our cosmic friend
Who could not have been more succinct and clear
Before it blew our buildings and men away
He came here for the metals and other alloys
Communicating with eloquence and in good form
Androids are adroit, programmed that way
How has it dawn on us so soon when we hadn’t even achieved much?
Why has the marketplace ceased to buy and sell so scanty the streets wither away
The clouds becomes more darkened as smokes ascend randomly our fields are on fire
We can feel the rain but it has lost its coldness
I hear more voices than I usually heard
This time of crying and wailing rather than chatting and hailing
Voices
chanting and singing songs of war
Dust and gun powders like fog fill the air,
with great rumble the battle rages
The long night tarry on nobody has awakened
Some privileged to pass on to the other side
Total transmission from what we see now
Carcasses litter the streets as we run from pillar to post
Yet not so sure where the lot may fall
Great assets lost in hot zones, they shouldn’t have taken the guns,
Gravesides more frequent than bedsides
When did we become such serious foes?
That tears can’t seem to mend?
We let our children die by our own hands and still squeeze our sorry faces
How valuable is this trophy, hope it’s worth the pains we are feeling now?
We match in battalions, onward we go
Faces brimming with boldness and courage,
Though fear still takes its partition
We leave behind loved ones not so sure,
like walking into the lions cave to kill or be killed
Jumping over strip wires, nice try
Only to step on landmines
A time to team up with death taking from one end
While it continues from the other side in its own way
Orphans, widows and widowers we make at will that which we had once pitied
What caused this sudden change?
So unfortunate many fighting ignorantly yet arrogantly
Now we pull down our once fancied walls to build more refugee camps and fill them
We overstretching science and make of men expendables
A time we show how much we can take
What we depict now is wickedness rather than strength
In this game
Winners are
Always
Rude
African woman, I have heard so much about you
I have heard that you are caring, that you are loving , that your kindness is incomparable. I have heard that your beauty needs no special powders and creams hoba o pabala 'sea la batho!
Theha tsebe and listen to what I have to say ka wena
Ke bua ka wena a woman of integrity, what a wonderful creature you are
O mmasechaba, the mother of the nation, nosizwe!
Ka wena re bona masea a matle dibobothwana
Tau dimesana, thipa o e tshwara ka bohaleng.
Ha ke o tadima ke bona a mother of all professions. A teacher, a sole provide, a mother, the head and the backbone of the family, a creative
Who else could turn a house into a warm home?Ke wena fela mmasechaba!
African woman, ambition is your walking stick to your destination
You are a tree of good fruits, mang le mang desires ditholwana tsa hao
And when they throw you stones to harvest what they never sowed unto you, you give them your fruits ntle le dikgathatso
You use the same heap of stones that were meant to harm you to step to greater heights
You are smart, a dreamer. an intellect...
Your walk is so graceful. Your words say you know what gratitude and appreciation is
Fear is a strange man in your world because you are fierce
A spark that shines the brightest in the darkest days
O lesedi, naletsana, mmabotle
Courage is your inner man, even when you come across obstacles across your path, you get strength from reminding yourself that you never begin with the intent to quit, you are a fighter
You fight for your dreams, your victory, I mean you are not here to be defeated but to conquer
You are an African woman!
The-lit-wick-burnt-quick
I am the dipped stick
People are always referencing to
For two reasons:
One, is that I held on too long
Two, is because all but two fingers are gone
Lets look on the bright side, shall we...
I was a beautiful explosion!
A vibrant bouquet
Of summer flowers in bloom
Emanating from my hand
In offering to the night sky
There was an orange so serene
It could make the setting sun cry
At least I lost my pinky finger
And not my right eye
The potassium and iron oxide
That filled the firecracker's column
Made brilliant scores of violet and red
As visions of pyrotechnical plum ferries danced in my head
There was also a yellow that looked as if it escaped from dreams
Like a day lily in the morning that just busted its seams
This can be attributed to the explosive levels, of sodium
Which may of in turn resulted, with the loss of my thumb
Iron was unmistakably there creating a pure gold
The color of the ring a lost extremity used to hold
Copper sulfate was present creating the truest of blue
Five digits once stood where now there is two
Titanium, aluminum, or magnesium powders
Gave the finish a hurtful bright white
I may be giving a peace sign
But everything is not alright
6/9/16 - real late at night
What lives in moisture's molecules, water crystals dripping
Downwards, frozen tears of the winter angels, forming a
Crystalline ice cocoon, within life's angelic essence thrives,
A metamorphism of beauties extreme, bursting forth
Behold the ice butterfly.
Sliver's sheer wings of delicate perfection, fluttering on a
Wintery November breeze, spreading flights appendages wide,
It captures the arctic currents beneath, soaring through the
Thickets barren wilderness.
Angelic creatures whirling majestically, a swirling swarm
Of fragility, symmetrical elegance in motion, reflective
Chambers of crystal light, the colors palate array, are trapped,
Within their graceful wings of ice.
Nature's magnificent work of art, flying aloft ever so
Gently, nipping at the frosty lace floating from heaven,
A cascading blizzard of snowflakes, blissfully descends
Upon a wintery wonderland.
Living icicles glittering in the cold sunset, set free
Unto liberation's crisp chilly air, light as feather’s
Down, soaring flit to flights ascension, circling each
Other in wild abandonment’s carefree play, drifters
Castaways lost amongst kindred's mischief.
As tenderly lain is the mornings dew, does it's
Limbs rise and fall thus softly, resting at a stands stilled
Pause, such beauty captured in silence's repose.
The Aurora Borealis, in kaleidoscope a shimmering
Prism of brilliance, sparkling with winter's natural
Essence, purified by the temperatures frigidity.
Shine little ice butterfly, for soon life's ice-kissed
Spell, shall be broken by the first warming breath
Of spring, enchantments flutter bug, inspiration's
Muse, melts away at the thaws ember, revealing
The evergreen beneath the powders white.
Another day at the gym,
Pumping iron for the swell.
Aching muscles feeling grim,
As I put myself through hell.
Boneless chicken that I bake,
Egg whites keep me lean.
Protein powders in a shake,
With a dose of creatine.
Heavy squats inflate the quads,
Bench presses for my pecs.
Arm curls to increase the odds,
In the mirror just to flex.
Pull-ups will expand the lats,
Back with snatch and grabs.
Cutting out excessive fats,
And crunches for my abs.
Stretching to protect my calves,
Dumbbells for bulging traps.
Smearing on more greasy salves,
For running more than twenty laps.
After many hours dripping sweat,
My daily workout finally done.
Don't you know I won't regret,
While basking in the blazing sun.
As I sit here, on a rectangular cake
Drawn and tied from Earth's oil, not fake
I wonder how to, in deuce, enunciate
of the state, wherein, I participate
Past tense, was I; island dwelling to hide
The thing that tied; and bound the path to dive
Terrific honey, which sleep required
Flowed wild with purpose; and never lied
Stuck to the ground; with entertainment quite boring
A guitar hero accomplished; nihilism recurring
With goods hands, in a happy place
The scenery dull, time for a break
On they came, or I to them
For me, really? Hesitation
They asked questions, quite leading, and when it was done
A train ride, to happy town, check in and tune down
The halls were quite clean, and the watchers quite ordered
The meals were on time, distracting and forward
Powders prescribed to keep time flowing even
Day and night cycle; Swiss bread repeating
As I arrived to despise the box I was in
The windows and doors that shuttered absent sin
And stuck as I was; with the ties to comply
My reply was a nod with a wink; and pity implied
Good fortune was kind to supply and find time
To use you and your keys to fly; surprise
The gears they did grind and mill for the bread
The water was lifted and carried far ahead
The story is now short, the sun breaks with news
Get out of bed, hair mend, speed spin, with trues
-KAL
WEATHER SAILS
What if the clouds themselves were like sails of a giant
Heavenly ship, its masts the very shafts of ethereal light
Cascading from Nirvana itself, white powders weather wings,
Guiding this planetary blue worlds atmosphere, in the ocean
Of a vast universal black sea, amongst the elliptical timeless tides,
Of the divine!
Swaying to the shift, shifting to the sway, angelic thin veils melting,
Vaporizing into nothingness, moistures wind catchers these waves
Of the untamable storm, called the outer stratosphere,
God’s bluish green vessel, a bio-sphere of natural miracles!
Lightning’s lordly finger prints as a masterpieces maker,
Attempts to touch his living masterwork of brilliance,
And echoing with thunder’s joyous sounding, as his pleasures
Reply!
Aft to the sterns guiding wheel, this captain of the mortal soul
Guides all hands aboard through our lives perfect storm,
No matter the hellish tides challenges, the torrents currents
Of reality to be overcame, within the faithful hearts of
Spiritual flame, no lantern light could be more prevalent
Then our fathers on high!
Oh let the lost find their way homewards, by the lighthouse
Of the everlasting, allow the bright beams of glory’s shine,
To protect these sailors of the sinful, and finally be embraced
By his unfathomable love for his fallen children!
Dropped is the anchor of faith, amongst the stars blazing
In the translucent skies, as his moon shield sparkles in
Illuminance elegance, dancing across the aquatic lunar stream
Beneath!
What if the clouds themselves were like sails of a giant
Heavenly ship, its masts the very shafts of ethereal light
Cascading from Nirvana itself, white powders weather wings,
Guiding this planetary blue worlds atmosphere, in the ocean
Of a vast universal black sea, amongst the elliptical timeless tides,
Of the divine!
BY: CHERYL ANNA DUNN
DEDICATED TO: POET DESTROYER, VERA DUGGAN, MYSTIC ROSE
For these women of inspiration that I owe so much too,
To my sisters of the heart, whom have kept me grounded at times,
Yet have allowed me to spread my wings of inspiration to soar!