Best Purposeless Poems
Gene stood. Skyscraper demanding. Cold steel.
Thirty-five hard years. Over now. Just like that.
Corrugated box. Family photo. Timex watch.
Bitter coffee.
Stale sweat.
He walked out. Sun blaze. Fireball. Air thick.
Sidewalk. Familiar corner. Man there.
Black skin. Weathered face. Cardboard sign.
Gene stopped. Eyes met. Silent understanding.
"Seen you," the man said.
Gene nodded. "Fifteen and a half years."
"Never spoke."
"No. Never did."
Gene sat. Concrete cracked. Chill. Hands trembling.
"Lost everything," he said, eyes downcast.
Shame heavy. Guilt girded.
The man waited. Silent. Eyes knowing.
"Wife. Cancer. Kids ghosted. Job now too."
Gene's voice cracked. "Wasted. Empty. Life."
The man reached down. Pulled out a bottle.
"Drink?" he asked.
Gene nodded. Took it. Swigged deep.
Bourbon burned. Good burn. Real.
"First honest thing. In years."
They sat. Shadows lengthened. City hummed.
Bottle passed. Back. Forth. No words.
Gene breathed. First time in years.
Bygone dreams. Flickered. Misty.
Husband. Father. Provider. Lost Purpose.
Night fell. Stars peeked. Traffic thinned.
Gene stood. Legs unsteady. Mind unclear
"Thanks," he said,
The man nodded. "Tomorrow comes" –
Gene stared out. Horizon blurred. “That was yesterday.”
Street light flickered. Old worn dress shoes.
A sound.
Empty bottle.
Spinning.
Parting gift. Timex.
Ticking...
"Oh, how you splinter me...."
Looking, through your looking glass
Portraits, of your present
And images, of your past
You say you see
You say you know
You say you do
But really....
You don't!
You sprinkle your sugar
You sputter your spatter
For all of those as yourself
To whom, it doesn't even matter....
Wrapped in your paper
And wrapped in your chatter
These monuments and pyramids
Of your self, absorbing...."Splatter"
Your purposeless, and your pointless
Pitter patter....
Your lines, they are divine
Your words, they are immense
But unto me, they do all seem
Void....And teetering
Upon the pretense!
Standing in front of you now
Staring, into your eye's....
You tell me that you do
But I do, wonder why?
Peering through your window
Looking through your glass
Your visions, for tomorrow
Should your yesterdays....They pass!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Splattered ~
{Repost}
"Casting down imaginations...." ~ II Cor. Ch. 10 ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, how you splinter me....
Looking through your looking glass
Portraits of your present and, images of your past!?
You say you see; you say you know; you say you do
But really, you don't....
You sprinkle your sugar; you sputter your spatter
For all of those as yourself, to whom
It doesn't even matter?!
Wrapped in your paper, and wrapped in your chatter....
These monuments and pyramids, of yourself
Absorbing, "Splatter"
Your purposeless and pointless, pitter patter!?
Your lines they are divine; your words, they are immense
Yet unto me, they do all seem, void, and teetering
Upon the pretense....
Standing in front of you now; staring into your eyes
You tell me that you do, but, I do wonder why?!
Peering through your window; looking through your glass
Your visions for tomorrow; should your yesterdays
They pass....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Splattered!?
Note: Smile ~ This is a repo aimed at no one in particular....
"Dare You to Move, by Switchfoot; 'Love,' Always," John!:) ~
Hollow odes lament where waves crash depthless
Oh! How ocean lacking light spills woe so!
Lackluster grays wail unkempt longingness
Lone stander bleeds the dreams of times ago
O'er the screaming wind, a seagull's bleak cries
weeps of cloudiness usurping the day
Heaven's warmth obscured, and now coldness vies,
overwhelming where vast emptiness slays
Left purposeless, wavering dark takes hold
looping tight a lynch-like corrosive noose
Otiose life sucks vim where sharks enfold,
wrecked in sunless abyss of night let loose
But Sol, unconquerable, beams once more
and the lighthouse sings, full of birds from shore!
(6/10/18)
We are but fleeting shadows
Upon the face of this earth
So solid,so tangible ,yet so ready
To slip through the hands of life
When we doff our mortal coil
To leave an inert and empty shell
Doomed from birth to turn to dust
How much store do we place
In the substance of this earth
Which can erupt and flow in waves
Sweeping all before it unstoppably
Then coming to rest
Once more monumentally still
Cloaked in the garb of geological grittiness
Water itself takes many forms
As gas,liquid and solid
Steam, water and ice
Such metamorphoses tease our understanding
The restlessness of our universe
Encompassing a world of whirling atoms
to give an illusion of stability
While spatially distanced.
This mysterious blend of dark matter
And seemingly solid shapes
Defies resolution by the human mind
As a few search for meaning
Seen by many as a purposeless pursuit.
Plus ca change,
Plus c'est la meme chose.
How many times did I gaze on thy face
In mine daydreams? When spent sun was fiercer;
Before night lapse in dank vesture of lace.
Mine wane smile died with memories dear sir.
Whiff scent of nature's breath upon mine cheeks
Unfurl the substance in mine trouble soul.
Swell of explosive unsated love seeks
Warm wisp embrace, of thy intimate whole.
Brush flitter, around musical full score
Ivory fingers purposeless upon
My ebony frame, asking for much more,
Sweet release, mine demise, a distant yawn.
Eternal sunshine that was mine, a force
That's still mine total joy, but night's remorse.
1/31/2020
A Sonnet True Love Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Brenda Chiri
I am worried
I am in despair
I am tensed
I am in low spirits
My song sounded melancholic
My thought turned pessimistic
My emotion became lifeless
My life seemed purposeless
My heart lost its rhythm
Cold shivers rippled my blood
My pulse missed its beat
Vacuum nested every nerve of my head.
I started my journey from somewhere to reach nowhere
I found myself toiling in the sands of dreary nightmare
I continued my cruise on the shoreless ocean
Searching for a home in an unknown destination
Life seemed to be a battlefield and I transformed into a weaponless warrior
Fighting with an unknown enemy for a mysterious reason
Tears were racing with the valley of blood
Anguish supplanted the graveness of a flash flood
Having fed with very little hope of survival
I gravely waited for the life's arrival.
Sailing unchaperoned in the gigantic world,
I realised that life is a personalized game and the triumph embosoms the unflinching souls.
When social upheaval brews chaos of nihilism,
Forfeiting moral values, embracing skepticism;
Instability ensues, clamoring in emptiness,
Believing world is futile, life is meaningless,
As broken norms shout, voicing nothingness
From souls alienated by misplaced intellect,
Mislaid by thoughts, vacuous and mindless.
Barren is the landscape of infertile minds
Dislocated in grip of meltdown and melancholy,
Preferring to host anarchy, disharmony,
Abandoning the virtues of reason, and logic,
Rejecting bliss and benevolence of empathy,
As gloomy clouds of disengagements form
Roiling hearts in intense emotional storms.
When disorder harbors indignity, incivility,
Misery and despair lead to destructive society,
As lost, worn-out souls wander unfulfilled,
Rudderless, in angst of hollowness within,
Aching for love-lost in fractured relationships
Navigating purposeless-digressions adrift,
Going nowhere, hovering over pit of abyss;
Until from consciousness cogent voice speaks,
Enlightened by guidance of wisdom satori,
Harkening back to yore, of inspiring dawns,
Blossoming-seasons of resplendent bygones,
Reminding~ back then, how tranquil life was;
Empowering now to banish reign of anomie,
Exiting tenebrous clouds, shrouding sanity,
Traversing back to abode of grace and unity,
With compass-benevolent of love, and divinity.
Oh this winter;
Begone
The cold made bitter with a relentless wind;
Begone
Please, Spring, push
it back
Lean, shove, melt
it back
Summer warmth
I miss you
Severe clear days
I miss you
Horses hot breath,
Smell of rain,
I miss you.
Lazy river,
lulling heart beats
into a molasses dream.
A stick with a leaf sail
steers through diamonds
as the sun-sparkles reflect
off the idle meandering purposeless river.
I miss you.
I sleep. The hours tick by mercilessly;
unfilled, purposeless, full of potential
"What to do? What to do???" I mutter,
tumbling, like Alice, down the rabbit hole.
My hands push down ballooning petticoats,
careful not to show or touch anything.
I twirl beneath the pile down comforters.
The hours tick by crimson red
and in the dream,
the rose Queen shouts, "Off with HER HEAD!"
An eyebrow is plucked whole from my face.
It falls matted and to the ground leaving me,
brow akimbo, surprised, and horrified.
"What to do? What to do? What to do???"
Half shorn. Half drawn. Half born?
A painter's pallet appears before me.
A brow is drawn… for me.
Yet, the Rose Queen still screams on.
"Off with HER HEAD! Off with HER HEAD!"
"I should have lost a gesture and a pose.
Sometimes these cogitations still amaze
The troubled midnight and the moon's repose."
---"La Figlia Che Pionge"; T.S. Eliot
Que tan dificil es
decir todo lo que siento.
O! This emptiness,
this vacuity,
this unfilled mental space
not admitting place
to what does not pass
our tests of time,
or logic --
no crutches
in opposition to
unembellished fact --
no sweetened fairy tales,
no selfish constructs
to justify
seizing goods or power;
no promises of forever
nor of endless pleasures:
only bare existence --
"being" --
in this unguided,
ultimately purposeless
angst-filled universe.
And, always,
mere inertia, eternal resistance
or accelerating change toward
foreseeable, entirely predictable
end.
Act!
Construct reality!
Live your life.
She had a gothic heart,
predictability and tamming tranquility were her counterparts,
she felt pain as gain,
peace was nettlesome and purposeless,
an abomination that careless civilization is undeserving of,
life is best consumed in confrontation,
within her magnificent mind God's value gravitated toward the power of volatility,
instability as instinct,
truth is permenance in transition,
Victoria believed that divinity as a mystery unsolved is more exhilerating
than explication or epiphany leading to the extinction
of curiosity's reign,
Victoria knew that law and politics are nothing more than an imposition
by the few heaved upon the many,a yoke of oppressive genius,
Victoria, a child of love betrayed,a woman of courage displayed
thought toughly & tenderly about the potential of mercy,
an enviable Empress,
compassion and kindness were complimentary components
to her dangerous disposition as hawkish talons
may be employed for feeding of fighting,
she developed into a clandestine warrior of natural necessity,
this world would either waste her
or she would wound the witnessed wickedness,
there was no harmony to be hankered for,life is a war of wills & wits,
espionage,diplomacy,truces,tributes and trounces always in the making,
Victoria loved God like a woman loves the anguish of pregnancy,
Victoria had a passion and a pity
for the Creator responsible for her awakening -
J.A.B.
Trust, Trust and Trust
Jumpy journey life becomes
If the one you trusted most turns Judas.....
Juniper fades ,wilts, withers.....
for soil fertile at roots is now poisoned
Rot and ferment with hatred its berries fragrant
Its very existence turns purposeless!
A merry-go-round ride life becomes
If the one you trusted most is by your side forever
Even cactus now grows much luxuriant.....
for it receives all its vital nutients
Rejuvenates and blooms with love its bright flowers
Even in hot desert it spreads its greenness!
In life, display their gymnastics trust and betrayal duo
Victor is forever the trust for its the underlying power!!
©copyright Anulaxmi Nayak,2015
My opinions are changed,
My heart lacks fervour,
For you lunched the war,
Purposeless,
To liberate who are already free,
To enrich who are already rich,
To make the fierce, more ferocious.
When will the time intrude you,
Make you see the brilliant aspect of the affair,
And humanity will sing the song of peace?
When will you peep into your inner-self
To see the reflected image of you own?
When will you obey the divine commands
And make out them that God forbids pollution
Smog and fumes of turmoil wrapping His fair Earth?
Now open your eyes
The shores are red;
The lands are coated with blood,
The skulls are scattered like stones,
For the sake of oil or the reserves of gold,
Be aware a single drop of human blood
Possesses more worth than all treasures
That the earth contains.
Now stop killing; enough, enough,
You neither surrender, nor do deprive others
Of the rights which the divine commands allow,
Go through the lanes with moderate bearing.
Live like a benefactor among the nations,
Share with them your victuals,
Stock of knowledge and skills,
And snatch them not of their own.
Return fathers to the orphans,
Husbands to the widows,
Brothers to the waiting damsels,
And sons to the aged mothers,
If not then compensate them all,
For the broken hearts, shattered dreams.
Hatred against you thrives,
Magma against you grows,
Let the volcano sleep,
Beneath the layers deep,
And only once apply,
The strategy of the weapon of love
Discarding the old devices of uranium.
The amount you spent on the arsenal
Would have been enough to feed the world
Though ten times bigger;
If you had ruled the hearts,
The world might have been a different place
Of love, peace and harmony.
Through force your aims will never be gained,
So amend the ways and stroll on the route
That enhances you in respect and esteem;
Review and revise the modes of actions,
Follow not the path that leads the world
To the chaos, and on the point of no return,
For there will be a dark dungeon of curse,
O! America, for the sake of humanity reverse.
Imperfect world, purposeless person.
I retired to pursue perfection
learn jazz tunes, woody and herbaceous plants,
read every inch of English literature,
Scientific American and Foreign Affairs,
have an affair with an American.
Oh, and by the way, before you ask, I'm from Mars.
Orbiting your planet, admiring the girls.
Paraphrasing prayers by George Herbert to share
with Jesus believers on talk radio shows
where we try to bring your lives into expressible states
before it’s too late and climate change inundates you.
Reversed thunder, savior-side-piercing spear,
one day you’re feeling fine, the next not.
We’re pretty matter of fact, clear about
the fact of death. Once you’re gone most of us forget
your face and previous accomplishments. The place
you lived is repopulated with the next generation (of aliens)
and that ought to be a comfort, a sort of restful
certainty all is well, nothing special need be done.
Bluebirds are back, crows are mating on the sky
and chasing hawks away from their nests. Juncos
and sparrows glean together. I hear pileated woodpeckers
jackhammering and barred owls hooting soothingly.
Herons smoothing feathers and spearing fish.
Everything is as one would wish.
Numberless are the world's wonders
but none more wonderful than aliens.