Best Reprieved Poems
No flame within!
do I hold for you
no delightful delicacy
shall I put to rhyme.
No picturesque words
in italics of your
woeful wildlife, no
acknowledgement of
the ancient mariner, he
that crossed the margin
of our “Atlas of the world.”
(Still in use, [I believe] in the
old stone museum.)
One can easily live in fear
of your many mordant moods,
to see you capture the
embracing horizon, where warring
clouds fondle the sunlight,
and the departing QE 2 is
reduced to microcosm.
How can one live in awe of
you, when at the end of each
day you snatch at the light of
sustenance, therefore
giving license to the veil
of damnation, soon to be cast
out of the east, driving impending
fears to languish upon the
unholy waters of the Styx?
(An extraction of the mind,
an evaporation of the memory
the spray dried brain
tossed into oblivion.)
Yet each morning an
interval to one’s ongoing
nightmare, when with renewed
levitation, the new light reprieved!
Begins avidly it’s universal
journey across Manukau’s
“Pack ‘n’ Save” Car park.
Oh yes! It is so easy to hate you;
you that brought the rest of
the world here, you that constitutes
a world within a world, that,
where the cycle of life creates it’s
own constitution, each player
judged on cue, to become an act of
fodder, mobile supermarkets
in ferocious competition with
nothing at all to give.
“Unless death itself is a gift!”
Upon the surface your
treachery still lingers, there,
tenacious tentacles lurk
within the sedulous surf,
groping blindly at sedated
rocks, those pinnacles of sanctuary
that harbour the weary,
support the rod.
Only when gravitation truly
intervenes, does the perpetual
invasion subside, leaving one in
no doubt about your promiscuity!
© Harry J Horsman 1993
Categories:
reprieved, angst, light, world,
Form:
Free verse
A faint perfume of lilac blooms has stirred the sleeping dawn
Bright sunlight weaves a golden loom with threads across the lawn
Crisp white-lipped Delphiniums tossed snowflakes to the hills, while
Daffodils and pink jonquils shake off the morning chill
Each violet of morning has left no stone deferred
Found growing near, a sprout appears from every seed interred!
Greeting me like candle flames, are poppies, gold and red
Hawthorne weaves a golden crown around the arbor's head!
I look long past the windowpane, and spring has bloomed anew,
just in time to see the sky revealed in shades of blue
knitting primroses in surprise! A sight long overdue!
Lost between the flagstones, alyssum, wild and free, has
mushroomed into puffs of white, competing with sweet peas!
New sprouts of cosmos spring alive in flowerbeds we've teased
On winter's lace a pansy face is smiling up at last!
Petunias in their pastel coats, are dressed like royalty
Queen of all in velvet robes, the iris crowns the grass!
Resplendent are the foxgloves…..and the dragons are a Snap!
Sweet Williams are such gentlemen, they make the morning grand
Tiger lilies brave the wind, stalking in the breeze
Under every shady tree, violas are reprieved, while
verdant shades of primrose lace wear green upon their sleeves
Wisteria's hysteria spreads levity with ease!
Xanadu is Statice "quo"……now, what more could it do?
Yarrow blooms tomorrow. I'll have to dry a few
Zinnias mean that spring has sprung, to share fresh air with you!
____________________________________________________
"Spring Is In The Air" Contest Form ..... A to Z (Abecedarian)
3/4/18
Categories:
reprieved, flower, nature, spring,
Form:
Abecedarian
My world a chasm of utter darkness
Dreariness enveloped me like a cloud
Bound by chains in an abandoned fortress
Tormented body - a field freshly plowed
Accomplishments ignored; voice never heard
Wondered why on earth was I even born
Treated like clipped wings of a fallen bird
Ripped to shreds, I could no longer be torn
Unsettling to be taunted by others
When all you do is exemplify love
Why is it so hard to love one another
As commanded by the Savior above
I tried so hard to find favor in their sight
All efforts were unfavorably received
I began to pray and was bathed in light
Chains started falling, my sentence reprieved
God looks at me and sees a worthy prize
The Lord loves all of his children the same
I’m no longer concerned about man’s eyes
Ill-conceived judgments nor secular names
The name of the Lord is a strong tower
His mighty name is worthy to be praised
I thank him for his redemptive power
For being my light on the darkest of days
In times of despair God spoke from above
Through His Word, He counseled and He advised
Keep His commandments - Keep walking in love
I am His, I am loved, and I am a prize!
Categories:
reprieved, bullying, evil, feelings, god,
Form:
Free verse
MY TREE - IT SHALL SURVIVE
Beside the Kinta River still it stands
Colossus of the primal forest panoply
Residing native of the fecund land
It’s limbs supporting graceful arcing canopy
A wondrous teeming aerial village live
It shall survive
A plume of smoke in still cool morning air
Warned of a threat to life of our dear friend
I dragged back fire and damped consuming flames
From perilled home of copious verdant life
Reprieved to face more challenges, and strive
It shall survive
Bearing scars, endured with grace of old patrician
Looking on unchanged, while all around contrive
‘til once more needing care of a passing physician
It shall survive
Each time I pass that way, I muse as I see
With warm complacent notion : ‘That’s my tree!’
13 September 2019
Writing Challenge 2, September 2019 - The Photograph
Sponsor, Dear Heart - Wiishkobi Ode
Categories:
reprieved, nature,
Form:
Narrative
At the heart of Marescaux Road’s Maroon and Gold
Lived a timid girl with dreams yearning to unfold.
An inner-city teen with a spirit aglow
Yet hidden in shadows, her potential lay low.
Then entered a teacher with passion ablaze
A beacon of hope, guiding through life’s maze.
With eyes full of kindness and words like a song
She saw through the silence, knew the girl didn’t belong.
Anne Girvan was her name, a mentor so bright
Igniting a spark and banishing the girl’s night.
With patience and wisdom, the teacher gently untied
The knots of self-doubt that had bound the girl’s pride.
“Believe, my dear,” she whispered, “you are strong,
Your voice is a melody; let it carry you along.”
In the world of words, the girl found her escape
A refuge in language, a chance to reshape.
The pen became the girl’s ally, the paper her friend,
Thus began her journey, a path to amend.
Through verses and prose, she let out her fears
Dropping them like anchors, dissolving in tears.
Anne Girvan—the guide, the catalyst of change—
Empowered the girl to break free from her cage.
In the alleys of Kingston, the girl’s story took flight,
A blossoming author, her words pure and bright.
She painted her struggles, her triumphs, her strife,
A testament to the teacher who transformed her life.
The pages reverberated with the strength of her voice
A symphony of triumph, a tale to rejoice.
The timid Jamaican girl was finally set free,
Her metamorphosis sparked by Anne Girvan's decree.
In Kingston’s inner city, where dreams often stall,
A teacher and poet answered her call.
Now she pens accolades for the one who believed,
Who unmuted her voice—her hero, reprieved.
This tale is her hymn to a teacher’s grace,
Whose influence lingers, transcending all space.
Decorated with praises among the heavens above,
Her ode to Anne Girvan, a testament of love.
Categories:
reprieved, 10th grade, 12th grade,
Form:
Ode
wildflower meadow
as tall as a muntjac
cuckoo cuckooing
-
farmers haymaking
grasshoppers stridulating
don't touch a stinkbug
-
wood admiral glides
honeysuckle its host plant
humid the hot nights
-
warm is the river
fish rising leaping for flies
life seeking cool shade
-
inverted swimmers
water boatmen taking in air
cygnets follow pen
-
as fall approaches
swifts are well on their way
second brood blackbirds
-
hungry mosquitoes
human siestas a nap
insect repellent
-
sunbathing insects
flowerflies hovering free
mowers thrashing lawns
-
farmers cutting hay
a smell not forgotten
wildlife be afraid
-
sunbathers warning
cream up or suffer sunburn
worse melanoma
-
swifts immature
three years on the wing
unbelievable
-
sand martins nesting
adorning soft sandy clifts
freshwater skimmers
-
dragonflies masters
watch them fly backwards a thrill
kingfishers posing
-
super hot weather
droughts not good for wildlife
reprieved... thunderstorms
-
climate warming
both poles can't take the heat
humans all sweating
-
a countryside walk
on a warm sunlit day
foxes sunbathing
Categories:
reprieved, june, nature, summer, sun,
Form:
Haiku
( It seems the only thing eternal life has left me is eternal tears.
For my lost son Christopher; named after the god who suffers. )
I knew you before I met you
cage crossing through mad books
your stainless leap
forcep-blessed
matrix-reprieved
weaving bled-shred
embers to god-pled
braving
the cairn of night
to do full
dubious ends
god's just
flung to hijacked earth as
after-thought
of finer stone
slashed lash skin broke to Moses hues
whose mode struck cursed
to sudden wander
to tower-armed berths annexed next in
your voyeur's finger rage
to run abducted through heuristic sunk-end heads
and sacrifice your brokered queen
prove your tongue-burning tears
a strangled pen
inched favor from chain-shell shouts
sieved by sheltering friends
savaged the race-card feeds
fouled in chilling fidgets
glyphed everyman's advance
to cherish one ascending
giving divinity thought-shadow charges
to dodge doc's sunny reparteé
finally
bipolar glue-power unclogs the gash
cherish your psyche's wormwood-hack
your peace-ink cooling blue
your snow-truth judgement bridged
with one bank and a gun
whose prophet
son of none
_________________
Notes:
1. A journalist once asked the Dalai Lama if he had to reduce the teachings of Buddhism to one word, what would it be. His response was; "Compassion".
If asked to do the same for Christianity, my word, similarly, would be: "Kindness".
Categories:
reprieved, loss, mental illness, sorrow,
Form:
Dramatic Monologue
In your head to pass this time
Attributing the former to your lies
Remember our cycle. Oh! how we belonged
We herded great minds and looseth the wronged
This is your part in our shattered glass
Although we fenced these strong beliefs
It is insatiable lust we reprieved
just short a miracle in humming this chord
Their weaknesses sort was time reborn
This is my part in our shattered glass
Endless love stories with novelty rhymes
a mist of colours, distractions and lies
Lighter pages, suspense or crime?
Mirrors and doors, our refraction in time
This is my part in our shattered glass
Just as we lost faith, we tore apart these walls
thus we drifted and sailed to our downfall
Last I heard of thee, it was late in the fall
In love and in lust, at her new masters beck-and-call
This is our sorrow in my shattered glass
Categories:
reprieved, betrayal, change, confusion, farewell,
Form:
Sonnet
My April Fool Horn Haiku
looked and saw loose stool
had been found in swimming pool
produced by cruel fool
had brought baseball bat
would want to knock someone flat
found him to be fat
is no Einstein
did like fruit that died on vine
so he should resign
small hands looked like claws
character had many flaws
grabbing at loose straws.
what we had believed
by maniac was conceived
he should be reprieved
really and really
is stupid yet still silly
played with a filly
distinguished Democrats
Rude Republican Spoiled Brats
on head need some pats
Categories:
reprieved, allegory, analogy,
Form:
Haiku
A solitary kernel for lack of succoring nurture aggrieved
From sun's warm caresses seasonally bereaved
With wind's chilling strides constantly plucked, heaved
Lying on fallowed ground whose cloak now desleaved
With frigid mantle over frostbitten spine weaved
Nutrient-rich pores of their cultivating provender relieved
As brittle husk to its fibrous moorings tightly cleaved
So coarse grains to earthen crevices, pockets sheathed
Dormant, but from bludgeoned shell will not secede
Nor Summer's bountiful harvest deed
A sparse, unfurnished bed temporarily bequeathed
Until providentially-rendered elements have new life breathed
Still yet, creator hath numbered all and due rations perceived
Until Spring's availing tides have Winter's corroded channels reprieved
And life's, generating tenants from their frozen prisons freed
Categories:
reprieved, angst,
Form:
Rhyme
1. Every space is filled
this is definitely a love match
cultivating a field of many Asters
smoothening life to a mind boggling degree
the definition of this bliss
is an outcast to the perception of many witnesses
shining our star up so high
for single princesses royal
to marvel and fantasize.
Chorus
She loves me…….
I love her…….
All that matters…….
In our world is our love…….
2. We’ve given divorce a show down
and hand cuffed division before it stabs
too close for air to invade
filled into each other to falsify vacuum
nature will melt for our hearts to unhinge.
we are so equal in need of no mental diplomat
b’cos right from the beginning,
taste of any bitter pill has been reprieved.
Chorus
She loves me…….
I love her…….
All that matters…….
In our world is our love…….
3. Two pouring wines in one glass cup
is an embodiment of incomprehensible unity
with street lights of testament
even if from a third class.
There are moments when filth
and quest to temporarily act feather brained
are too spicy
but we’ve come this far with
the belisha beacon placed in these traffics
of rushing danger.
Chorus
She loves me…….
I love her…….
All that matters…….
In our world is our love…….
4. Uneasy and completely mixed
is this journey
each climb wakes us more.
I had to scour my pride
she in turn rasterized her emotions
for a legendary recreation
of a surviving sweetness so soft to touch
like the Nubuck
unbeknownst to life, It’s been creamed
back and front to be self unrecognizing
from its own mirror.
Chorus
She loves me…….
I love her…….
All that matters…….
In our world is our love…….
Categories:
reprieved, fun, future, love, marriage,
Form:
Lyric
The Dakota Wars
Took their toll
Native Indians
Out of control
Five settlers were killed
Is what started it all
Little Crow declared
More would fall
This all happened
Many years ago
As the history books
And the records show
August 16th
1862
Treaty payments arrived
Truly due
But the fighting had started
Like i stated above
Settlers and Indians
There was rarely love
August 18th
1862
Little Crow on the warpath
Tensions grew
The Battle of Redwood Ferry
24 soldiers killed
Dakota war parties continued
How could relations build
At the battle of Wood Lake
1862
The Dakota surrendered
269, quite a crew
In Mid December
The trials were set
330 convicted
Their fate to be met
Lincoln commuted
Most of the above
Leaving 39
For the deathly shove
One was reprieved
Leaving 38
Confirming
Execution date
December 26th
1862
In Mankato, Minnesota
The 38 flew
To be with their ancestors
Fly on the wind
Chant with their spirits
In plea to rescind
The above date
Histories numeration
Is written as America's
Largest mass execution
9/11
And the Civil War
Two tragic tolls
Above the Dakota Wars
http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/native-americans.php
Categories:
reprieved, death, history, life, loss,
Form:
Rhyme
When the sun goes down,
The twilight brings calm.
Peace the heart vibes,
Emotions stroke nice.
Jovial the feelings are,
Which drifts the memories far.
The sunny times I remember,
The gleeful souls still linger.
With pleasure I lie,
And look in the deep dark sky.
The countless stars I sight,
Divine shadows shine bright.
The sin is reprieved,
And the let go of fright.
Then the secrets of joy I attain,
While still walking down the memory lane.
Categories:
reprieved, beauty, happiness, hope,
Form:
I just met this awkward chap,
By some referred to as a “Cad”,
Sat with him for quite a chat,
One that wasn’t near half-bad.
We spoke about the plight of Earth,
How man’s destroying it,
A pet subject since my birth,
An obsession I can’t quit.
He seemed to listen quietly
As I rambled all hour long,
But I think I reached him finally
When I told him he was wrong.
At that he seemed to wake
From the slumber I’d perceived,
Maybe this or that big cake
From my servant we received.
Either way I care not how
His support I then achieved,
I just want him to allow
Mother earth to be reprieved.
People think I’m such a bore,
Plummy mouthed and a tad slow,
Little knowing I do score
When it matters I just know.
Categories:
reprieved, earth, earth day, humor,
Form:
Quatrain
Here's a message for the human race--
everybody with a human face: God is
starting to leave us behind. What would
life be without being inside God's mind?
What if God was through with me and you
and the things we do? What if he decided
it was all a mistake and left us behind in his wake?
What if God has just had enough of all the
disrespectful, and disobedience stuff?
It's not funny how the weather's been acting up
hurricanes, floods volcanoes, and all that stuff-
and rumors of wars and wars going on from early
in the morning until the sun is gone.
What if He decided to finally depart because He had
a broken heart? What if He finally decided to leave
us alone and created another earthly home?
I heard a new planet was found. It's bigger than this
one, and it turns around, a planet that looks just like
ours. It could have water to grow trees, grass and
flowers.
I think it's time for us to stop and look at who's really
on top. It's the universal God of us all, and we have
lost our ears and can't hear His call. I think our ending
has been planned because God may no longer give
a damn.
It may be time, for all of us to fall to our knees and
beg, him for forgiveness, please. Unless this is done,
the next thing to go will be the sun. We can start by
throwing out man-made religions. That would be a
great decision. There is only one God that we need
for us to be reprieved. Well, another day, and gone.
and what ieft is nothing but this sad sad song.
Categories:
reprieved, america,
Form:
Free verse