Best Public Domain Poems
. for public domain
Where we hung our overcoats I don't remember,
or at what time winter snow fell late December,
I barely recall the living room
with the television or radio on,
snuggled in a chair, wanting weather of September.
The living room, our family's sanctuary,
where we prayed for a quickly passing January,
we held our tongues from bitter comments,
mostly, but one slipped out on occasion,
which made for an unpleasant colder February.
Spring and Summer came with outdoor body odor,
showers and sweat all through the harvest of October.
Comments on sore bones and blisters,
exchanged among my mother and sisters,
kept the conversation lively through November.
Our parents have long passed on, as we have passed on,
alone, or enduring lives we have created,
lording over our own living rooms,
to keep them from becoming tombs
of the silence that awaits us at the end.
. for public domain
Every crack in the ceiling,
dries up every river of dreams.
When idle eyes can't view their skies,
wadi minds flood over with schemes.
And every hole in the floors
becomes a bottomless well,
where loveless hearts go wishless,
dry up in a dusty old hell.
The mission bells may toll and toll,
but our dungeons, they fill and fill.
Sweet flowers off the garden path,
wither away for want of will.
If my tears were a river
Would they flow to the sun?
Would they laugh, would they chatter
And before its course run,
Would they open to an ocean
Holding childhood dreams?
And in the tides of that ocean
Could they bring back what’s been?
If my sorrows were a rainbow,
Would they bright my gray skies
Across a ceiling of blue,
Lifting hearts ever high?
And give light to the pilgrim,
Give cure to the frail,
And to the families of homeless;
Warm bed and a meal.
To my ears sing a song,
Sing it out far and near,
That division and greed
Shall no longer be feared.
With a chorus of freedom
Ringing all thru the land,
Where all who can reach out
Will offer their hand.
Time tells us tales
How these tyrants are doomed.
Dear brothers, dear sisters,
It can not come too soon!
We search for the dawning
Of that glorious morn,
When hands of the Lord
Will repair what's been torn.
When the children can laugh,
When women no longer hide.
When men can stand tall
And with face to the sky.
This war will be ended
With a treaty of love.
Where all will surrender
To the Glory above.
This is actually a song I have put to this public domain tune: youtu.be/UPS28ijF-ls Also try "Farewell Angelina" by Joan Baez for inspiration.
Featured: PoetrySoup Home Page - Week of 1/24/22
I yearn for every moment to be a delight
For worry and stress to give way
To endless days of leisurely respite
From now until forever and ever
Let me fear no more and have no need for hope
Let me sit under a linden tree and just abide
In the bliss of serene stillness.
All rights released into Public Domain
The lament of an evil man on the eve of death:
“It is twilight in paradise
And the end of my idle life
Of lavish pleasure is nigh.
My dreams benighted,
Crumbling before my eyes,
I sorely regret frittering away
Those calm prosperous days
Of youth, wealth and peace
On plunder and wicked deeds,
Wrathful violence and conspiracies,
On fraud, libel and charlatanry,
And slender courtesans who steal
Lascivious glances and feelings.
Now I stand before the abyss,
Old, withered and ready to slip
From my blissful mortal coil,
And into the infernal boiling oil.
Alas! I now rue my failure to do
Even a single upright deed!”
Poem released into Public Domain
First published on my blog (with image):
https://purelandsutras.wordpress.com/2016/10/17/memento-mori-twilight-in-paradise/
Night falls and the mirror moon illumes the
heavenly starry skies with gleaming ivory beams.
Shiny and mellow, a splendrous silver orb,
the delight of the night sky!
It is the evening of the 15th, and the cool air is fair,
filled with chirping crickets and reason for revelry.
Kinfolk gather to rejoice within the warmth of their hearth,
toasting with mulled wine ; munching moon cakes!
But today is also sacred and solemn, and offerings
must be made to Heaven and Earth. Thus, scented
sandalwood incense are lit ; apricots and pomelos are placed
upon lacquer plates before the plaques of divine gods,
and dear ancestors.
Away from laughter and lanterns, besides a quiet lake,
and under a lofty peak, sits a sagacious couple. She smiles
and plays the guqin, sending with each skillful stroke,
soft and serene sounds that grace the ethereal night's air.
As for him, he stands pleased under the pavilion, inhaling
the sweet scents of blooming peach blossoms, and admiring
the moon as it rose and the beauty of his wife before the
bright shimmer of moonlight.
Content, he recites a poem:
“The moon is luminous,
Heaven is harmonious,
Autumn has come,
And Summer is gone,
I toast my cassia wine,
To a harvest most fine!”
All rights released into Public Domain
My dream, my undying yearning,
Is to dwell in a dream-world of my own,
In a misty city amid teal lakes and white peaks,
Filled with clear waters, lush groves and majestic pines,
With marvelous minimalist halls of mid-century design.
I seek to read in lofty libraries and muse in art galleries,
To be adrift in abstract beauty and a Baroque adagio,
To lounge in cafes filled with creative reverie, and
Elegant silent patrons lost in their daydreams.
I yearn to spend each sublime evening admiring starry skies
From under a domed skylight, to enjoy creamy coffee upon a
Lakeside veranda, amid dew drops and cool blissful breezes,
Gazing at the sun as it slowly rises beyond the skyline.
All rights released into Public Domain
My dream shines brightly with ambitious gleam,
And in my heart, its vivid brilliance rivals even sunbeam.
I dream to be among the ranks of landowners,
To have thousands of acres and a hanseatic house,
Adorned with colorful feathered grouse,
And lush gardens fit for soirees and dinners,
Gazebos hosting bands and crooners,
And a view of a river as fair as the Great Ouse.
By day I shall paint,
And write prose and poetry
Lauding flora and fauna.
By night I shall play
Baroque tunes on a lute
Or Bach on a harpsichord.
All rights released into Public Domain
Sept. 26 2016
Three style II poetry contest
Hi all, I have recently completed a short and easy to use Pure Land Buddhist Liturgy and Prayer Book, based on the 48 Vows of Amitabha and Infinite Life Sutra. Here is the first verse:
O Amitabha, you hear and you see our trials and ordeals. Heeding our pleas for refuge and relief, you have raised the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss: A paradise adorned by virtue so gloriously infinite that its majesty mounts up beyond Meru peak. You bless all who rise to your land with Sage-hood, even those from the realms of perdition. We see that your land is untainted by the states of woe—untainted by pests, pestilences, phantoms and beasts!
For this Glory of Bodhi, we Vow for your Land.
If you would like the whole book, you can read and download it for free here:
https://archive.org/details/PureLandLiturgy
The book has been released into the Public Domain.
He grew his own food,
And sewed his own clothes,
He owed no one,
But shared with everyone.
He rejected larceny,
Refrained from intrigue,
Spurned lust, lies and malice,
Spoke only kindness
And practiced but prudence.
He was a modest man… are we?
All rights released into Public Domain
You Are My Formidable FireWall
My Memory Image Chip, Thru Flash Floods
You Search Thru and Rescue my Heart-Site…
With A Barricade that Blocks Viruses – like Blood
You Are My Screen-Saver and Life-Log-On-Line
Top-Tech-Support; My Very Own Version of Refreshed Breath
… if they could Spam or Shutdown You, from my System…
… there’d be Nothing, but Frozen, Empty-Space Left
You Halt Hard-Core-Drive – Hacking Rain
You Turn Back Spy Infiltrating, Triple Whip Wild Winds
… more than All Other Hosts/Sponsors Here
… You’re My Best Net – Blog… Faithful, Code-Friend
My Address: is Your Laptop - Yeah, I’m Your fEMAIL…
Sent or Waiting @will for you.come
To Download hope, trust, most learned Tools
And File Past Pop-up - Back-Door-Programs Done
You Are My Formidable FireWall
My Free-Path and Private-Property MainFrame
My Fault-Delete, My Final Password and Future Link…
And My Full-Force, Public Domain-Flame://______!
You Are My Formidable FireWall – Forever
Finest CPU; Fearless-Forward–Pentium-Pointer to Light
GOD!… I Love This Guard-Upgrade, speaking MicroSoft Words
… while pressing Safe=Surf-Kisses and Key-Strokes at Midnight
My FireWall…
My Far-Reaching…
UnFailing…
UnFlinching…
Formidable…
Fantastic…
… FIREWALL
Click click, that's the name of the game
Click click, you're going insane
Click click, is it nice outside?
Click click, should I even try?
Click click, it's the name of our generation
Click click, hypnotic masturbation
Click click, researching nonsense
Click click, losing my conscience
Click click, puppies and kittens
Click click, more statuses written
Click click, everyone has a voice
Click click, everyone has a choice
Click click, donate to causes
Click click, without hidden clauses
Click click, the world is becoming transparent
Click click, it's all so inherent
Click click, this is public domain
Click click, but please don't restrain
Click click, an abundance of trolls
Click click, did I just get rick rolled?
Life is just a cattle drive
Of trending hype,
Of endless stress
Crushing like wine press,
A tango with fortune’s
Many taunts and tantrums,
A gamble to grapple with fate,
So gaze with care at the
Forked roads before you,
Which way can you surely say
Is not smothered by smog?
Poem released into Public Domain
Check out more poetry and philosophical texts at my blog:
purelandsutras.wordpress.com/blog
Let us drink to this
Ancient windswept stone, the pearl
Of Atlantic sea
All rights released into Public Domain
Shimmering sea, glimmering waves
Glistening waters, mirroring moon-glow
Beyond the beaches, coral lagoons
Mellow boroughs, dotting the shore
Rising sun, peaking through the sky
Day has arrived, ousting dark night
Merchant adventurers, sail forth to venture
The deep blue hue, revealed to the crew
Vast is its reach, and cool the salty breeze
Violent are its storms, and mighty its depths
Haunted by sirens, whose tunes take wing
Amid broken dreams, and forlorn hope
Morbid castaways, adrift or ashore
Gaze upon the horizon, dazed and confused
Perhaps they seek, an island of nymphs,
Just like Odysseus, or so they think
This is the sea, daunting and promising
Poseidon’s wonders, for all to see!
All rights released into Public Domain