Best Pungency Poems
layers of fog
blanket the bayou
obscuring vision
the pungency of decay
assaults my senses
3/17/15
For Andrea's Tanka 2 contest
6th place
Outside the city, tasty pomegranates grow,
the Wakefields look forward to delayed honeymoon.
British coffee merchant, James was raised in Bordeaux.
Each day, they sample wines after lunch, after noon;
sober sweethearts smile, their selections apropos.
New to their palates - pomegranate/cranberry,
two acidic fruits, both improve in the blending;
secret recipes mix sweetness with pungency.
The two lovers delve in, raw tastes that are trending;
mixing with dry merlot, a cheese rich and creamy.
James relishes sharing his past with Mallory,
his new bride of three weeks and his dearest delight.
It is here, she'll meet his extended family.
It’s here they foster new clients, enjoy old sights.
Here, they reserve a right and preference for coffee.
written 12 April 2016
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is being in the moment, with the past
A dim memorial and the future ripe anticipation;
Without investment of self in uncertainty and “when I…”,
Just living life in the now.
I read the book of recipes and am drawn
Into its world of pungency, lost in imagined tastes;
And I linger at this altar of sensual delight,
And am mindful.
A glass of Riesling sits close by, cold, crisp,
With subtle oiliness hinting at future promise;
Its acidity bites at my tongue as I imagine
Lemons in Greece might do.
Fragrant prose makes my nose twitch, as though some
Herb, roughly chopped to embrace the warmth of spice,
Is thrown into the bubbling pot to lure the hungry,
And I think of you.
The spell of the moment is broken by your
Presence, uninvited and unwanted but irresistible,
An imagining, without form, that brings emptiness, longing,
The elements of grief.
Why do you do this, Madame, why do you
Not leave me to be at peace with my present?
Why do you intrude, when you have been silent
This long while?
I want to be with you, or rid of you;
There is no compromise, I cannot be an acquaintance;
There is no possibility of a hint of love, like
A hint of chilli.
I imagine inside your mind, where I have no
Place, no presence; I am forgotten, like a withered
Posy, whose scent is as dust and adds nothing
To our pleasure.
And I live in this moment, dissolved in
My emotions, swept up in thinking, and wonder
When it will end and you no longer disturb
My present.
The ascetic monk reminds me of the impermanence
Of all things, and the unhealthy possession you have
Of my thoughts and feelings, putting my happiness
at your command.
Miserere mei: soaring notes wash my mind clean, no
Thoughts or emotions can find space in this reverberant
Cathedral of penitence; transient music that lives forever,
Unlike that pure treble.
I am again mindful and you slip behind the
Curtain of music, an actor quitting the stage,
Your speech done, the plot carried forward
To its end.
The shelter and comfort I gave so freely was gone with my destruction. The child once played alone and content in the comfort of my stairwell. The cat stalked the banister for a friendly monster to attack. The tempting odor from the kitchen, and by the fire, the pungency of the rain laundered dog steaming dry, all memories!
Hate for me was born at the deaths of my several masters. Their Mistresses not understanding that I sheltered also death. Failing to remember the many times his grim shadow was closely put aside as I allowed life also to enter or remain. They failed to realize I must shelter all! Blind to the cause as justice is to the defendant.
The shadows rise and fall with the passing of time, and now, all trace of me is gone. Yet the comfort I gave is still there. For those who knew me come to the spot where I stood and dream of the past. I keep it safe here, waiting for their return.
Again, in the remaining sod, I shelter them with the comfort of their memory of what I once was to each of them.
What I Would Like to Forget
The stench of me was putrid and gagging
For the black white varmint had made its marking
As I realized the volatile sensations erupting with in
Stupid I was having spooked the skunk at my garbage can
Odor no other equates to such pungency and frustration
For throughout my taste buds its musk engulfed my aggravation
Having permeated seven layers saturated deep- I did scrub
My bath I did linger five days in the tub
Damn the experience which I would like to forget
I’ve learned at night to stay put in front of my TV set
This Satanophobia makes me fear more
A jobless framework like a rust armour
From the arsenal of an old strong warlord
Surefooted to cut down a long strong rod.
Its an aframomum melegueta
Which its pungency hurts than a cutter.
Idleness; a caustic abstract worker
Bow in the hand of evil chief archer.
Seest thou an idle man; devil's abode
Activates arch injurious spirit mode
There, every evil venture was acted
To destroy good works that was created.
The master of mischievousness is good
At making an unused hand as his food.
He puts evil on an engage-less man
Like ao dai on vietnamese woman.
Ye idles away like a falling leaf
While others toil to earn a coin for beef
And ye rip off them of their hard labour.
An idle man, a devilish harbour.
Hubris makes me wait
For something better
Which is all the poisonous tundra
That my mind can take today
So, let begin, the parade
Streaming displays
Traversing
Through crowded gawkers
Who sing and cling
To verses, euphonic notions
Of melodies and maladies
Only recognizable to an audience
Of unknown disparity, such as they
And where am I
Among the spectacular?
And what am I
Sans a vat of grilled confetti
Noshing tastelessness
A fine wine, mute of
Spirit, grape and love?
So I tell you
Hope not bore you
I am lathered
In luscious deep directive
Pleased and patient
Marinate do I on
Probable emphatic winds
Maybe delaying inevitability
Yet the flavor gains momentum
Pungency stings with fire
Latent explosions
Gathering steam for the journey
Ah, but to where
And with who
And will I know I'm there once arrived
Do signs filter the highways
Breathing life into the air
Do crumbs resemble putrid possibilities
Forming jagged lines that need
Hindsight to impose the vistas
Magnificent vistas
Thomas Kinkade-manufactured plastic vistas
With colors and images, vibrant like
Disney cartoons, Fiestaware and
Ethnic displays of solidarity
Though color will go and
I will follow
As each hue, speaking eloquently
To the rods and cones which make them so
Evokes my mind, my worth
My simple plan to live
To descend
In ways that
Most journeys
Lose themselves
In ways, I suppose
That many may be unable
To reconcile
Fallen by guile
At least temporarily
Until my essence
At ease and defined
In a fractured moment of humanity
Is found once again
At the destination
My point of departure.
(10/15/04)
Candle was center staged
A Candlelight Romance perspired
Flame lit up beautiful faces
Flame, ruthlessly pierced with rushing Nicotine
Lovers Love drowned in the Sea of Smoke
Passionate kiss became oblivious
The burnt lips cried in vain
Only Pungency of Ashes, choked fragrance of Love
So many cries, so much noise
Numb Eardrums, an agonizing mum
Estranged from Jazz, envious of Saxophone
A burning Spirit, a claustrophobic Heart, left tussling
No Mango for Tongue, it’s all bitter Booze
Trembling with Disgust and debris of abuse
No sense of direction, no sense of senses
Compassion dwindles in all Tenses
Those long Drives look real long
Like a rush in a Marathon
Windows are ruined by viscous dust
Praying Lords for a heavy Rain bust
Scent of a Woman is cringed
Manifestation of Romance winched
It’s high time to burst the bubble
Time for a Kiss beneath the blues of water
Let those wet curls smitten you
Let that touch giggle you
Drive down those tamed roads
Feel the rush inside
Stop snooping for the Rains
Take a dip into wet terrains.
The Jabberwock, the Jabberwock,
Beware, beware the Jabberwock!
When you be out in forest deep,
Secure in bed, awake, asleep,
Protected by superiority,
Cloaked within seniority,
Thinking you safe in your encampment,
It comes with magic and with enchantment;
It flies aflame through forest trees
And sweeps up idle employees.
Not one will prove to be saveable;
All will prove quite microwaveable.
And, though your troops be sore mismatched,
Though none return who be dispatched
To meet and fight this host chimeric,
The VORPAL BLADE, from times barbaric,
May yet defeat this beast malevolent;
In the end may prove prevalent.
So those of us who’s seen its eyes,
Those of us who are familiarized,
Who’ve smelt its horrid pungency,
Will waive our normal consultant’s fee
And offer you a special deal:
One vorpal sword, for just a steal.
at the end of the right angle,
your brain function seems unattractively acute,
and the putridity and the pungency is quite obtuse
something happened between the early period and the now
it is as if you watered down your morals and accept anything that comes
you changed your hair, your presentation, your reaction, and your choice of friends
i seem to have fallen into the trapezoid and the isosceles triangles of life with you
each curve is sharp and the focus has no clear purpose
i am tempted to go back to the cooler center where 45 connects with 45
maybe then i will be able to breathe easier because the temperature coming from nowadays you is not working in this spherical hemisphere of me
it is getting so that now there is no common ground at the midpoint
i just end up passing you by as you make yet another attempt to keep my attention
totally uneven is our overall ebb and flow
the road to her was not easy
the valleys of her mind were not smooth ones
there were times when love smelled like new suitcases
there were times when hate and its pungency was the freshest scent
however here we still remain wrapped in each others arms
how we can be big kids teasing adult things is beyond me
how we can remove the thorns and clean and bandages all the wounds is not that plain to see
the road to me was not that easy either
the volume of my moodiness brought out the worst in the worst
my loner's mentality was like arrows playing follow the leader with arrows
there were moments when we were plotting murder schemes in our minds
there were moments when we wanted to just jump from some high place ourselves
however here we still remain kissing each other like halloween candy bandits
how what comes next transpires is beyond even the most vivid imagination
how what ultimately becomes the conclusion occurs befuddles even the most genius of a mind
all we know is that we simply love each other
the rest we put in the Healing Hands of God....
Should I, mere a rabbit of sand, shiny hair,
sport a shock of fur mired in clay,
they from gofer mounds, propped on to peer, would sound warning
through the sun glades and sleep grotto shades.
“A pall fellow lights whereupon we here graze.
See ye lithely to him yield path.
He in bone pastel smocks with such likeness to bare
plodeth sloughs dank, decay’s fell morass.”
“This chap’s marks are slurred, kindred ‘s smudged,” they’ll say,
“in a mud that is not of our warren.
He looks sullied by drear earthen labyrinths far ‘way,
perhaps fox hole, cat hovel, or den of wolves’ coven.”
For when foul skies do strike, marring trees with their curses,
rains fall to douse scintillate branches.
A pungency hovers where a torrid sludge cools.
Its paste casts forbidden clan hues.
Now the wolf craves not easily his like or lean.
He is wary of ghouls in his ranks.
“Gaunt swagger, I see,” he’ll think,
“This one leave be, who with me, shares the gore and the grisly.”
For in drab sheens to drape, shall the countenance daunt.
Browns besmirched will, in ashes, urge, “Yay,
it is he colored wolf.” In airs Lupus, I’ll steep,
strutting meekness purged, brave in cloak gray.
"As a child I maintained a stoic attitude.
I exhibited patience, restraint, resignation, forbearance, and lack of complaint.
The ideal child you might say. As I grew, I realized the error of my ways."
¬The Poet¬
Dreaming improbable dreams.
Reality betwixt the unsealing
Softly fluttering butterfly wings
Apricot anacondas wreathing
Bleating lambs catapult seaward
Over volcanoes about to erupt
Prismed glass rainbows sliding
Monuments souring unhindered.
No longer enslaved slaves
Thinking the unthinkable
To be what I truly feel
Tears that can’t be cried
Walnut shells dismembered,
For pathways to the unknown
Physically powerful reasons.
Persimmons permeate perfume,
Soft velvet sparks so subtle
Teardrops fall in puddles,
Weary eyes forge forward,
Everlasting daisies wilt
Forlorn ekphratic regrets
Misted windows endorse,
The pain as its vile pungency
Scorns the soul of the angelic
drives goodness to the brink,
mighty swords flow protests
to the unyielding winds of time
To defiantly stand up to demons
for a valid worthwhile cause
as the lyrics of memoirs spill
and gazes turn to wonder,
amid lonely nights of fear
with only love unblemished
if not myself what can I be?
to reach an unreachable star
I surrender to their touch.
Untold ethics to be true.
The sweet rose petals pink
And cumquats bursting
And ever do I regret the sigh,
Of your entwined lullaby
With cold adorning feathers
The sorrowful peacock wails,
An unending finale of song
To ease my savage thoughts
Doing it my way evermore,
And regain courage to protest,
In tangerine oasis in the seas
Instilling birds and bees hum
And bliss of your caressing
On clouds of coral swaying
As lilac shoots skyward
In ever circling cascades
Of merriment galore in store
Where mirth and joy combine
Making sediment pure wine
All logic cast aside in the wash.
The righted wrongs unsaid.
Resting my tired head
Culminating in enough said.
"The fire has crossed containment lines,
Dunns Road has just been breached,
Emergency vehicles have withdrawn,
You cannot be reached",
Local radio announces every minute,
Evacuation roads are shut,
Power and phones are all now down,
You're alone with the smoke and dust.
Then through the haze of black and red,
Fire cowlicks up your house,
Adrenaline shakes your trembling hand,
Your legs, your chest, your mouth,
It's just you and your hose in the fight,
No mercy- do or die,
Fire licks at everything you have,
Everything left dry.
Then, in a moment, it's gone again,
Wild wind waltzed it up the hill,
And you stand alone in complete silence,
To witness what's been killed,
When, from nowhere, the acrid stench,
From animals now burnt black,
Battle with the pungency,
Life under attack.
Tears now drop, you try to feel,
Deep down you know you're broke,
As you see the stoic volunteer brigade,
Floating through the smoke,
You fall, they catch in arms of love,
Take you away from here,
To a place of peace and mates and hope,
With a smile, a joke and beer.
In my world there is a perfect love.
In my world there is a perpetual sun.
Come to me.
Look for the incandescent moon,
blossoming into full radiance,
casting sheen to the sky of night.
Smell the delectable pungency of cedar,
canopying the forest floor,
softening your footsteps.
Taste the salty spray of the ocean’s vapor,
spewing its breath onto your pores,
embracing and uniting
you to me.
You will not have to look far,
for I am everywhere you tread.
I am part of you.
Come to me.
Together we will traverse the sparkle of night
and the brilliance of day,
on our magic carpet ride,
to peaks that soar and Vanish into the clouds,
to rivers rekindling our souls,
to sunsets ending life’s struggles.
Come to me.
Cherish a terrifying peace,
appearing almost surreal, at first,
but as time passes,
spring’s reassurance beams upon us,
and we realize the flower has bloomed
to give both pleasure and beauty,
so we accept the rendered gift,
and our bond is immortalized.
Come to me.
What are you waiting for?
Yes- you are the one I love,
precious one, man of verse and inspiration.
Come to me.
The struggle is inevitable.
Yes, life will be hard’.
But come to me,
and I will love you,
as you have never known.
Come to me.
Savor the breadth of life:
Lullaby of cicada, lamenting summer heat-
proverbial chorus,
Honeysuckle tendrils, riddling the air-
scented perfume,
Prismatic snowflakes, waltzing the wind-
amazing spectacle,
Whippoorwills welcoming dawn of day-
enthralling reverberation,
Curtains of fog, kissing the earth-
haunting scent,
Stair casing trees, stroking the heavens-
exhilarating grandeur.
Come to me.
Discover enduring love.
True love!
Come to me.