Best Pursuing Poems
I glimpsed it one night floundering in dark,
still young of age, beset by whirls of doubt.
Not knowing on what journey to embark,
inside my gloom, I prayed to be pulled out.
How radiant and rare it seemed to me,
appearing like a comet, light to show.
I set my gaze on it that I might see
the way it blazed where I was meant to go.
Pursuing it, I left abashment’s edge
and followed to where flowers softly swayed
and scent of lilac wafted from a hedge.
Such welcome realm where soothing music played!
This scene, though dreamed, revealed to me in youth
serenity is found in seeking truth.
9/24/2012
For Francine Roberts' In Dreams Poetry Contest
A Sonnet in
~ Iambic Tetrameter ~
At age eighteen he fled his home
Could barely wait, despised his town
To see the world all on his own
He'd wear a smile, no more to frown
He traveled in a makeshift way
Hitched rides in vans and sneaked on trains
When desperate, he stowed away
At times got drenched by gusts of rain
Two years he spent pursuing dreams
Grew wiser as the time crawled by
Found out that life's nor peach nor cream
For home and hearth, began to sigh...
Came back and knocked on his front door
Discovered that 'twas 'home' no more
Applauding an Acrostic Aria
Bopping to a Ballade Ballet and Blank verse Berceuse
Clapping to a Cinquain Cantata and Couplet Chorale
Dancing to a Dizain Duet
Exalting in Etheree Etudes and Elegy Ensembles
Frolicking to Free verse Folk songs and Footle Foxtrots
Galavanting to Ghazal Gavottes
Humming harmonies to a Haiku Hip Hop
Inhaling Italian sonnet Instrumentals
Jiving to a Jueje Jig
Keeping time to a Kyrielle Khaliji*
Lolling to a Limerick Lullaby
Marching to a Monorhyme Minuet
Napping to a Narrative Nocturne
Ovations for an Ottava Rima Overture and Ode Opera
Praising a Pantoum Polonaise
Quieting my quarters with a Quatrain Quadrille
Rollicking to Rondeau Rondos and Rhyme Royal Rhapsodies
Singing to Sonnet Sonatas and Sapphic Stanza Symphonies
Tapping toes to a Triolet Trio and a Tanka Tango
Unwinding to an Urban Sonnet Unison
Vocalizing a Villanelle Villanella
Whistling with a Waltz Wave Waltz
eXulting in Yaltos and Zikets
// Lines consist of a verb, a poetry form, and a musical form //
*Khaliji = modern contemporary music of Central and Eastern Arabia
A cat pursuing mice
seems never
to think twice;
an owl swooping on prey
shows no thought
of delay--
Then enters man--
expressing volition,
a higher moral ground
of conscious
contrition--
yet kills for sport
as well as nutrition…
Oh! on occasion
for God
and country….
If I had to choose a path,
Which way would I go, what choice would I make?
Would I follow my heart, or listen to my head?
Would I choose my dreams, or stick with what I dread?
If I had to choose between love and fear,
Would I let love guide me, or let fear steer?
Would I take a risk, or play it safe?
Would I let love win, or let fear’s grip chafe?
If i had to choose between joy and pain,
Would I dance in the sunshine, or hide in the rain?
Would I let happiness in, or keep it at bay?
Would I let pain consume me, or find a brighter way?
If I had to choose between staying and leaving,
Would I hold on tight, or let go without grieving?
Would I stay in my comfort, or venture into the unknown?
Would I stay in my bubble, or let my wings be shown?
If I had to choose between giving up and fighting,
Would I surrender, or keep on striving?
Would I let my dreams die, or hold on tight?
Would I give up the fight, or keep reaching for the light?
If I had to choose between being true to myself,
Or fitting in with the crowd on the shelf,
Would I embrace my uniqueness, or conform the norm?
Would I stay true to my values, or hide behind a mask so warm?
If I had to choose between living and just existing,
Would I take risks, or play it safe and resisting?
Would I make each day count, or let them slip away?
Would I live with purpose, or just let life sway?
If I had to choose, I’d choose to be brave,
To embrace every moment, to take what I crave.
I’d choose to follow my heart, no matter the cost,
For in the end, it’s the choices we make that are never lost.
Twice around the world he sped
pursuing madness, folly
Unrequited lover he
denied, his desperate volley
Once ignited, passions roused
flames obey no limits
Wildfires scorch the tender earth
unbridled desire's afterbirth
Bestowed with life by One powerful Divine
Gracious with His love scintillating shine
I traverse roads: rose and weeded grounds
Flaming with a soldier's will to expound
From dawn begins my journey til sun sets
So many roads bided, my ownself to sweat
Courage bullets, I fire and fire
Pursuing success my ringing desire
Wait! hold on,don't go fast, echoes
Rush runs may thud a sporadic tempo
I have seen caterpillars dying as butterflies
Buds bloom, spreading aroma, by-and-by
The angelic aroma invites prosperity brush
It's rouge shows maturation like royal flush
Bravely. I go forth to reach every dream
Conquering beyond foggy upstream
If my own-self, a rebellion, resisting me
Earthquake moan to call a break-free.
Kaleidoscope faces became my preachers
A halo or a tail experience: my teachers
Tricky battalion of pressures stressing
Yet, camouflage trials bomb to blessings
Rewarding me with laughter and tears
Adding tons of memories to my years
Evolving beautiful to each season stir
Wisdom and love, now, my own myrrh
If I shall die this very day,
I hope my legacy not a dismay...
(C) Olive Eloisa and Malik Yaseen
9:38pm
September 23, 2014
Beyond cosmos goes
Thirst of knowledge
My heart's desire flows
Where is paradise
Golden drinks and water blue
Your paradise solely rests in you…
-Miranda Lambert-
*haiku
Dreams crumble just like my thoughts,
At least when I think of you.
I'm left gathering myself'
My minds eye's mirror's breaking through.
Broken shards of silver glass,
Reflecting horrors of broken paths.
I've let down myself in everything I do.
And I seem to have lost myself in the process of forgetting truth.
Or at least what it used to be,
Before you fed it to the moon.
Now I'm fading with memory,
Just like shadows of you.
I'm a ghost in the night,
passing graves in pale light.
Cemeteries weep with me
echoing the requiem of an aria like the lullaby of fright.
Digging up the corpses of another dying life.
Condemned to walk in darkness,
A pallbearer weighing his own stone.
It appears i live in dust amongst mist & hollow bone.
Sleeping in a grave,
A bed I've made my own.
I turn tombs of my despair into a sepulcher's throne.
Collecting ashes of the dead longing to see the sun again.
Trapped in dirt for months,
I haven't seen the light of day in your eyes.
Winter chill drawing near,
Freezing all I fear.
The world frozen in white perfection,
My heart through the snow.
Walking through the gates i was Engulfed in a great light.
A voice said i was merely sleeping,
Dreaming everything's alright.
I saw visions of your ghost as you were leading me home...
Oh my God! Help me find understanding!
And not just of Yourself, also Man,
Let me search for the truth, undemanding,
Or in seeking self-worth in your plan.
Help me see life on Earth with Your values,
Guide me where I should be with Your heart,
Make “to walk in Your way” my decision,
And the servant’s role most favored part.
Let humility grow to be gifting,
And in service discover rewards,
May my poems be read as uplifting,
And life’s symphony heard in their chords.
Let me honor Your Son with each day’s break,
And His name be a rock for my prayers,
May I be faithful witness for Love’s sake,
And reveal Him in all my affairs.
And when night comes, at last, let me thank You,
For the times that You stood by my side,
Mystic ingénue, pursued by Christ's love
May His love for me be all my pride!
Long Tooth
March 7, 2017
pursue me, O' Father, love me so
Embrace me, never let me go
Pursuing, pursue me
~
I am running away from the light
I am running away into the dark
the deep is deeper yet the light
change bright so brisk
as I felt the need to flee
come after me come on to me
I stand in all I run from all
~
I embrace my fairness
I am subjected to the call yet
I fall come hold me, come hold me
I standing all yet still again who is this my new found friend
come closer embrace me presume me, pursue me, pursue me
Oh Lord FATHER come before me
embrace me whole love and endure me
Pursue me I am standing here, embrace me I'll be your beloved
You are ever standing next to me
you are the light I am the dark
yet you shine ever on me the brightest bright the deepest light
so resilient I feed off the light come closer don't ever walk away from me
you never would because it's I'm, I'm the one who flees
I have subjected to the call yet I fall
come hold me come hold me I am
~
standing oh yet again ever still
sometime I flee I run
yet you're still beside me
ever still you pursue me, you pursue me
Oh Lord Father God come before me
embrace me whole love and endure me
my God my God you never go away
~
you're always ever standing still next to me
you're at the door knocking you
I am beloved, your darling one Father God pursue me
Pursue me
5/12/23
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2023
You get my girl senses tingling,
every time I see you spring into action
Teenage super hero lover of mine,
I loved you from the first hanging upside down
from a tree kiss
To our last rollicking, web-slinging good time
Peter Parker,
I’ve been pursuing you,
watching you
do your spider hero thing on web cam
But you know sometimes
it’s so hard to watch
Seeing those super arch-villains
try to clean your clock
Electro,
Doc Oct
Sandman,
Green Goblin
You got so many bad guys that don’t like you,
but you never lost your sense of humor
about it all ... no, not one bit at all
One more thing I gotta say:
it’s sweet sexy how you love to chase
after me, your homegirl MJ
Chasing rainbows is nothing compared to waterfalls
They cascade upon dreams that were once deferred
More beautiful than a song, lyrics that pierce the heart
I often sing it off key, to the beat of my own drum
Ba da ba da dum dum, my strings do play
Every moment I gather the courage to bellow the words
Living in the moment, as if nothing else matters
As if everything will be more than just okay
Pursuing Apathy
Isn’t all it’s cracked up to be;
When all you want is love to express
For all the world to see.
No one said it would be easy
To learn to live and to be;
An emotional mess of joy and stress
Devoid of Apathy.