Best Razed Poems
It's summer, and sunlight's syrup pours sweet into afternoon.
We've come to the bungalow's cemetery
to pick over bones of bygone days;
touch time's tender skin, lay flowers on childhood's grave.
The lodge is razed to the ground. We raise
our eyes to sky and take each big breath of blue.
Sharp lemon-light cuts through
the detritus of our days; the oaks once cloaked in dark.
The knotweed nooses and dreamlike domes of fly agaric
have all been cleared; the forest sentinels' leafless limbs
discarded - an abattoir of strangeness, sawdust-strewn.
But all dismemberment is a clearing of sorts.
The echoes of emptiness eavesdrop
on each reminiscence, as we forage for a few last remnants:
blue paisley swirls of 70s tiles,
red bricks from an 80s fireplace.
A yearning rises suddenly, slick sick-sour in my throat...
and yet, it feels cathartic, this purging of the past;
this merging of our then and now,
this blending of bitter and sweet.
23 February 2023
Categories:
razed, nostalgia,
Form:
Free verse
We go about our lives as if with no clue
that all around us things on earth are dying
as other “great’ activities we pursue.
Good habits should mean more than simply trying.
For many crimes, mankind should be atoning.
Humankind, BE kind, or you will be crying!
Prick up your ears, and hear Earth’s gentle moaning.
Hear it in the oceans filled with our debris.
Where she chokes from all our filth, Earth is groaning.
Hear the silent shrieks emitting from each tree.
With forests razed – oxygen is depleting.
Extinction of creatues already we see.
This senselessness we cannot keep repeating,
or a deserved tragic end we’ll be meeting.
March 12, 2021
for D.W. Rodgers' While Mother Earth Gently Moans Poetry Contest
Categories:
razed, earth,
Form:
Terza Rima
Sandcastles built upon a pristine beach are a marvel to behold,
With much pride taken by the architect to design and mold!
But, alas, this fragile work of art is destined to be savagely razed
By the inexorable creep of hissing surf, leaving the builder dazed!
Many folks spend their time daydreaming, building castles in the air,
But, oft' such dreams crumble, washing o'er them in waves of despair.
Whether one builds castles in the air or sandcastles nigh the sea,
Each is but a fleeting dream with no imperishable guarantee!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserve
Placed No. 3 in Gail Doyle's "Sandcastles By The Seashore" Contest - May 2012
Categories:
razed, sea,
Form:
Rhyme
In midst of night,
When I was deep in slumber,
The memory rattled,
Eyes sunk with fear,
Saw the houses crumble,
The trees tremble,
The thunder storm made me nimble,
The ocean in fumble,
Tried to reach me and hug me in grumble.
I went slowly to the balcony,
Tried to reach out to see this mesmerized agony,
The agony was far from imagination,
It’s a terrifying situation,
God is slowly destroying its creation.
The waves shook the landscape,
The geography is jeopardized,
The houses drowned,
And with it are the people,
Cries of the birds,
Made the atmosphere filled with shrill,
The painful and subdued voice of the animals,
Made it sure of their fatal deaths.
The water is beneath,
Thunderstorm is above it,
No place for shelter,
The houses gradually decreased,
With water slowly increased,
I saw human beings floating in it,
I knew some of them, were also in it,
Saw the animals gradually going deep in it,
Trees are getting shaved,
Houses are getting razed,
The plateau near my house is gone beneath.
The things happened so quickly,
And it was so horrifying,
that I forgot my own situation,
Now I am in pain and sorrow,
for what I have seen slowly,
Happening beneath my eyes.
With this grief and agony in my heart,
I turned back to get inside the house,
But I was knee deep in water,
And the water is rising faster,
I am late in making my action,
Now my life and my existence is in jeopardy,
And with the flashes of the scenes running back and forth,
Made me cripple,
I wasn’t able to run,
I gradually gave up to the faith,
But when I saw the death creeping near to me,
A terrible fear ran through me,
My face became pale,
And the blood started drying up,
I started weeping and prayed to spare me,
But a dark shadow engulfed me,
And a terrible wave galloped me.
I was desperately moaning,
Then suddenly my eyes opened,
My bed was completely dripping from the sweat,
For few minutes I couldn’t make out what’s going on,
But then I realized that it was a dreadful dream.
I closed my eyes and prayed to God,
Thanked him that it was a dream.
Categories:
razed, life, loss, natural disasters,
Form:
Rhyme
Remember the time.
Remember the days.
Before the weave…..
After the straightening comb and fried dried perm, wig…….
When we were beautiful,
Oh, so black and beautiful.
When the character of black was natural beauty.
Full shaped, shaved afro, natural "angela davis beautiful"!
Afro
No chemicals, no perms, no madame Whoever
No purchased existential emulations of beauty from a foreign, shaved head
No synthetic being.
How can I feel beautiful with someone else’s hair?
No locks of beauty yet, yet, yet
Or fake braids down the back like you woke.
However you may have be born, you wore it, proudly.
But natural black beauty, real awoke.
Just our washed and sun-dried selves, picked out and afro sheen, clean pure razor-sharp black hair
Fists razed in defiance of oppression and beautiful.
“A natural,” they said
“Naturally, beautifully pure”
Now, WE ARE STILL BEAUTIFUL
Woke and beautiful!
A beauty that costs,
Nothing!
A beauty of the spirit
That has always and will always
BE NATURAL!
Categories:
razed, black african american, change,
Form:
Free verse
I pretend I'm alright
And put my best stance forward
Wear my brave face
Tryin to be smooth
Just tripped on my shoelace
What's a girl to do
Busted, razed, flat broke
My foot slipped off the pedal and into the spoke
Out of focus, idling, coasting on fumes
Myyyyy, mmmm, my oh my
Must retreat to my bedroom
For slumber; ugh - that noxious perfume
I sprayed on today
In the department store
I don't need to tell you
It reeks
That's a big pee you
Oh my
My plan has gone awry
I try to write
After listening to Vile
He inspires me
Perspiring
Thinking bout how to
Ink brilliance
Such as he
Slamming on the brakes
My leg itches
Ya damn flea
Bravado and all
I seem to fall
I spiral out of control
Resilience reels me back in
I'm a bouncy, buoyant, headstrong girl
Go ahead and believe what you want
Self deprecation is my defense mechanism
Keep playing
those cards close to your vest
You're bluffing fool
I know this by now
Prevaricator is a might big word
For liar
As you try to set the world on fire
I see you race away
And turn my head
Pretending not to see
When you visibly disgust me
You're not proving anything
With your ostentatious
Obnoxiously awesome self
Annnnnything
I ain't seen before
And won't soon forget
I'm a rhyming
tonight
Maybe filled with fright
Or could it be boredom
Delirious laughter
G'night
Sleep and clarity are what I desire
Slough off this crap
I know it's beyond time for a nap
My RPM is slowing
My aching for REM is growing
Copyright June 17, 2023 Lori Steindorf
Categories:
razed, anxiety, depression, mental illness,
Form:
Rhyme
Class or Claaassee!
Night owl with an open circumstance fears
from blue neglect with the rages of unfortunate
idealisms---“why don’t you”---a nag nag nag
sequence, fosters an arm’s length gaze glance
I peer through picket fence fingers, while tongue
depressing hop to it emo euphemisms to gag
your elementary gesture fantasies with lurking
adult ill-ustrated gonatitudes, (egoenvy) in full glee—“I don’t
care---but then what if”---and
would even believe me if I tried to tell
you the truth, you don’t want to touch in mind.
I fail to the order of kindergartenal suicide
and prose my character to mold your moods in
one tenth hope of a swelled down deep particle
secret desire. Take it for what it is and not think
to misabandon, stop, look and feelisten.
Your neighbor is only good as you. Plain
simple downdeep and bittersweet bliss bias
but for—lorn fortunate to at least gain a
Goldilocks glimpse into your uncouth
vascular unconscious. Given a mathetical, grammitical
½ chance I may re-le-learn a think or 2 times nothing
and----------------------hey, gimme me a hecka break
as he/she in razed eyebrows in an eduillusion exactimum? Well, yea!
Categories:
razed, childhood, conflict, confusion, education,
Form:
Free verse
Red Petals Of Everlasting Love
Perfect couples united in a Holy Matrimony
Entwined by God in His most divine harmony
They built a home in the fortress of true love
A salubrious place, their most comforting cove.
Lulling over a lake of serenity from the start
Sustained by faith and fidelity deep in the heart.
For being steadfast in love, in their conviction
Over the years, no squalls razed their foundation
Relentlessly, they look forward for future boons.
Blessed now they are with lovely and talented children
In their sacrifices and patience, dreams will be on hand
Nurtured kids by their great mother and father
God loving and fearing ones, blessings to all others.
Red petals of everlasting love rain from the sky
Outpouring over these two hearts’ boundless tie
Matrimonial bond - an oath to God forever
Eternal amorous affinity they’ll never surrender
Lifetime creases their body, it doesn’t matter.
©2016Leonora Galinta
All Rights Reserved
Feb. 14, 2016 6.05 pm.
-Sharing a a poem as my Valentines gift to couples (my cousin and his wife).. An earnest request giving me the title, “ Everlasting Love” but I added words on the title.
Categories:
razed, love, marriage,
Form:
Acrostic
Predator drone recording:- 6.00am
The dawn sky dramatic
Multi-coloured in rainbow array
Mutating flares of crimson reds
One portent Wednesday.
Overhead the predator drone motionless
Metallic silver it's planed wings
and tip pointed nose
Alarming to view it's presence
Though reassuring to see it remain
As alien activity increases
In newsworthy reports of the same
Covert surveillance monitoring
Is commonly known
Also equipped with combative technology
Has this futuristic drone
The troubled nations looked skywards
From parliament offices, homes and schools
No communication has been received or ventured
As a stalemate seems to prevail
At 6.30 pm on Thursday
A bombardment of ferocious intensity
Annihilated a mountain range
Within 30 seconds as dust cleared
The landscape now had changed
Once where there were mountains
Only a rising mushroom cloud
Panic was endemic
As satellite news worldwide spread.
Communities in the vicinity
Had collapsing buildings
and the people laying injured or dead.
Countless areas were targeted
Cities razed to the ground
People as headless chickens
Madness crazed were hunted down.
Total annihilation of the human race
Was the aliens only goal
Governments faltered and fell
Young destined to never grow old.
The authoritarian levels of society
In bunkers down did go
As the skyscrapers monopolise
stood as gravestones over the
crowded inhabitants below.
No help could be alerted
from the defence forces,
ambulance or police
People decided to die in their homes
With loved ones silent in their grief
The old order had been toppled
No-one could envisage the end
Then, Monday at 5.00 am
An ear piercing whistling
continued without restrain
Ear drums were shattered
No-one could withstand the pain
Making everyone left suicidal
that was the alien's game.
They entered the Earth's stratosphere
at midnight on Saturday
But there was no human civilisation
No-one left to positively say.
Categories:
razed, science fiction,
Form:
Free verse
I’ve a vast store of mem’ries about Chicago
as I’ve lived there for a couple of years
helping out in the parish of many immigrants,
especially Mexicans and Puerto Ricans.
I’ve made friends and a number of them
still continue to correspond by emails;
it’s like a treasure-trove of relationships -
where friendship makes a big difference.
I still remember when I get invitations
from people of other cultures in their homes;
their different cuisines and customs,
a great experience, a wealth of culture.
Chicago’s known for many attractions,
home of architecture with modern skyscraper
the neo-gothic Tribune Tower in the north
along with white Wrigley building in the city;
rich in architectural history, a sight to behold!
Its classic and modern architecture so far,
complements each other in visible terms,
with innovative ideas and creative designs
a special city with marvelous history.
Daniel Burnham, the famed architect,
designed the Merchandise Mart and others
significant to his life like ‘Paris on the Prairie’,
a tapestry of combined art of old and new.
Renowned architects with their respective styles
such as Frank Lloyd Wright and his prairie designs,
Louis Sullivan and his visible ornate facades
Ludwig Miles van der Rohe for modern styles.
Oh, Chicago, known also as the Windy City
so rich in history and its uniqueness too,
the time when a huge fire razed the city
destroyed lovely buildings in 1871.
Well, with the growing skyscrapers in the city
Chicago Spire, for instance, with its 150 stories
designed by a renowned architect Calatrava,
stands as the tallest building in North America.
With the so-called Trump Tower in its 92 stories
and then, Waterview Tower with its 90 stories,
Sears Tower, the skyscraper with its 110 stories,
that’s the only tallest among buildings in the U.S.
Oh well, this is Chicago in the landscape of beauty,
as a windy city, as well as a gateway to reality;
there’s meaning to trace back in history
there’s continuing progress towards this century.
Categories:
razed, faith, happiness, history, introspection,
Form:
Narrative
the love and reverence
is what I noticed first
a motherland a homeland
but then I saw the curse
a beautiful Israeli girl
too jewish shunned like me
but a goy in the kitchen
still instant friends were we
fast forward to this present day
with Gaza razed a perilous fate
towards its people a palpable hate
to mind my jewish summer camp stay
how at an early age I could plainly name
both belonging and pack mentality
how hate and bigotry will stake their claim
when so by example one is taught to be
For Simcha,
never forgotten ~x
Categories:
razed, friendship, hate, jewish, teen,
Form:
Narrative
I paused upon a morning breeze
Gently flowing through the trees;
These leaves became like little hands
Clapping joyously and free!
May my response to “wind” too be
A glad applauding like a tree.
I noticed in the stormy days
The battered trees, would rise again.
They held against the wind’s malaise
And fought to lift their arms in praise.
May my response to storms too be
As firm and steadfast as a tree.
When catastrophic storms have razed
And trees uprooted, broken, hazed
Knew their life was at its end:
They died with branches still up raised.
May my response to death too be,
As strong and loyal as a tree.
When a tree from earth is weaned;
Its fruit and lumber gleaned
It leaves behind a legacy
Of a life for other’s seen.
Oh may my life for mankind be,
As full and fruitful as a tree.
Categories:
razed, christian, encouraging, endurance, inspiration,
Form:
Alliteration
THE OLD FARMSTEAD
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS
So many sunsets since I last tread this lane
Stirring deep seeded emotions so hard to contain
I know it’s the same place where I grew
The old farmstead is far from what I knew
The house is sagging and in need of paint
The porch swing’s colors are chipped and faint
The porch steps creak as they did before
The pond in the yard, not there anymore
Once there were chickens and ducks abound
Weeds and clutter now cover the ground
The roof eaves are leaking, a somber sight
What happened to cause the this terrible plight
One by one we all left and went on our way
Then just two uncle Willie and aunt May
Willie passed away, a few years ago
Their little garden abandoned no one to sow
We’ve gathered here today to bid May “ bon voyage”
Her roots were set so deep no one could dislodge
I see my old friends it's such a surprise
Some have changed so little I still recognize
My cousin is here without his spouse
She’s critically ill and can’t leave the house
An old school chum made an arduous trek
To visit his old “Nana” and pay his respect
She looks so placid and finally at peace
She toiled long and hard,it’s a relief
She held us together for all these years
She handled it all without shedding tears
A simple pine box, so easy to lift
Her final journey painfully swift
There are six of us here to fill the bill
Go behind the house and up to the hill
Farmstead(2)
There are nine grave markers she’ll be ten
She’s the last one, then never again
Lowered by rope to her final abode
A part of the land she so often strode
This old house will soon be razed
Time will move to a different phase
A large combine will soon plant these fields
This rich loamy soil will give generous yields
The tragedy for me is that no one will know
The family adventure that made us glow
In a few years all will be lost
No one will know of the human cost
The only remnant that time will not kill
Are those ten little markers up on the hill
Categories:
razed, emotions, farm, feelings, for
Form:
Rhyme
Barn Raising
Dr. James E. Martin
©November, 2013
The barn was quickly raised.
The crowd was simply amazed.
They later were confused,
No one was amused,
As the barn was speedily razed.
Categories:
razed, funny,
Form:
Limerick
A half-moon wind caresses naked skin
as a whispered prayer takes flight
Love me well when you dream tonight
Moonlight hosts a symphony opera
with natures orchestral might
Insecta songs they sing , for you
and friends in your care, I in theirs
At these unholy hours
thoughts prove masochistic
Wise counsel naught but acoustic
Un- remittance rends and rips
A lover’s melancholy grips in violent tics
Unpleasant distance will cause regret
For in passions sad neglect
lust and jealousy are bred
Thence in stealth their war is waged
through empty fortresses, razed
where loves light hath fled
but for one last cry distressed
Alas, with deeds time hath cheated
surrendered prayers gone unheeded
Lay thee abed, in privacy to wed
and weep alone instead
for those whom companionship
hath left for dead
As mounted specimens in camphor beds
Insecta songs they sang to deafness
with only a half-moon wind as witness.
Categories:
razed, lost love, prayer,
Form:
Rhyme