Best Rotunda Poems
Feet meander through their slow walks
on damp benches along the rotunda ...
an elderly pair grips the stem of their
parasol , inhaling the breath of dusky wisps,
as if the gray of their tresses
holds the seams of hours watching
this evening turn inky blue...
And when the fog releases tangy flavor,
the man closes his eyes with his palm...
and a single tear drips as night becomes
quiet-- in this instance, the wife points
to stars evanescing until they both
relish the glory of seasons owned
through decades crowning their long life.
MARCH 2017 PREMIER CONTEST: Brian Strand
Repost 3/17/2017
1. Facing life courageously with eyes downcast
happiness and peace not part of the forecast
amidst proud siblings, the only one timid
uncertainty in the air, densely humid
fine drink for all but taking a thimbleful
for true protection, the gods get my handful
glued to excuses and flaws of temperaments
leaving the ungodly to make side comments.
Chorus
I run to the highest hills
I hide in the deepest caves
I put my trust on strong men
I breath the words of great kings
When I stumble and fall down
Jesus alone gives His hand
[Repeat]
2. Powers of men become diversionary
many unreal strengths, claiming to tonify
following masked demons to drop in centers
to acquire, to hold but nowhere rustic
drinks all to suffer spiritual dysentery
from a castle, jumping to a rotunda
to the things of God, becoming a rascal
a walking tapir in the midst of Tigers.
Chorus
I run to the highest hills
I hide in the deepest caves
I put my trust on strong men
I breath the words of great kinds
When I stumble and fall down
Jesus alone gives His hand
[Repeat]
3. He has suffered it all in his first coming
can come of age his glorious second coming
it is never too late by his reckoning
now is the time to have a rite of passage
men can brag and make you have a reverie
other gods can fight to seem in rivalry
but run to him for the clear and blameless dress
for when its time, his glow no one can repress.
Chorus
I run to the highest hills
I hide in the deepest caves
I put my trust on strong men
I breath the words of great kinds
When I stumble and fall down
Jesus alone gives His hand
[Repeat]
An Oxford Sonnet
We came again to city of spires and dreams
There: were England's aspirations built and carved
In honeyed stone of Jurassic coral seas
Where minds are sculpted, nurtured and preserved
From ancient college, fount of Nation's learning
Beyond oak doors, The High tells tale in stone
The buildings speak eloquence of spirits' yearning
In stately palace and in humble home
In the sun wide eyed emperors gaze in bewildered senescence
By Sheldonian and Clarendon, symbols of human elation
And in night darkened square the Camera's massive presence
Is viscerally discerned as of primal creation
Here we sought to kindle embers and to start
The fires of invention in youthful hearts
Notes
'The High' = The High Street, lined with historic architecture.
The 'emperors' = the series of sculpted heads on pillars that fence The Sheldonian Theatre.
The Clarendon Building = a fine and noble example of English Baroque.
The Radcliffe Camera = Iconic large Rotunda housing a library
Contest entered with NA : Cityscape
11 Jan 2020
Written: May 2nd, 2024
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quixotic quest quiddity
As dusk sapidity emerges,
Casting a shadow
Weeping waves smash
in foamy scatters;
seraphic strophic sojourn
groans in a gossamer gaunt
Arid shadows fade.
In a hazy blur,
emptiness lingers.
Shorebirds console each other.
in epicedes of
velvety whispers
and elusive sighs.
Horizon amid
cinereous graffiti of
tear-stained threnody and
raven blooms.
It breaks my heart, too
with crimson, auric, and
plum, plum, purple wings,
why haven't you
returned
to me in spring?
to our moon-smeared love
& diaphanous elixir
amethyst kisses of
emerald ablaze,
spiraling in seductive
sapphire scarlet sounds,
Your love, a fiery flow
Flames aflame,
with gemstones aglow.
Dark ideas settle in
my head is akin to
a tombstone,
Obstructing—my judgment
early hours are lost
in the fog,
their significance dimmed
I succumb to allure
of nightfall and
I shut my eyes.
Acquiesce to inquiry
in heaven, each flower
boasts a mirror
to inveigle into each valley,
Beneath a sky of
countless clouds;
quaint lodge stands out,
surrounded
by a myriad of
shimmering ponds
capture a vast expanse
of coastlines.
Uncharted shores,
where vessels veered
toward vast seas,
untrodden by any praxis
As twilight falls,
coastlines curve in a crescendo
across horizon.
Cloaking hill peaks in mist.
loquacious verbosity
recognized in wisdom
beyond spectrum of
circumlocution.
In a flurry of
fading flowers,
faith-filled fields, &
fugacious felicity.
Snare drum rotunda
somberly chimes
within a forest,
Its dulcet echos rhyme.
We've wandered down
curious trails
basking in the sun
warm embrace;
In depths of shadows,
We've sought with fear,
an ambient arena,
vast and near.
Unveiling a shore infinite,
In an abyss where
every heart resides.
With its boundless skies
I'm Canadian eh! from the frozen tundra
Stored food for the winter, so I'm a little rotunda
Not worried a bit
Soon be back in fit
How I make it though winter, it's a won-da!
© Jack Ellison 2015
Dances with eagles in skinny oxygen
Silence is regal, time is an abstract
I humbly look up, at your majestic existence
So still, so cold, so proud, but so much like me…
So timid in the slap of the Northern winds
So in love with love
So much shaken by earthquakes of Human Nature grinning in colliding
plateaus with deep faults.
In the blind of darkness I only have your secret, inner warmth
Lava of our Souls perforates geological barriers,
Layer after layer of memories of past lives…remember?
Our underwater games, the Raising above our Black Sea level
The playful puffs of steaming magma cooling off dreams into Reality…
I see dances of eagles shooed by a deafening propeller
I float in a basket above you: I AM THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD !!!
…and I can fly in the eternity and beyond!!!
You remain smiling coldly , nostalgically still, endlessly Majestic
As I become smaller, and smaller, and smaller
In a minuscule Black Hole where mountains become Gods
As I turn into a still, cold, and proud abstract
in the Rotunda of my childhood Gardens back home…
for John's Contest
The gamblers and the mourners
Explore the vagaries of fate,
The expediency of life
Dangling in the capitol rotunda
Like a hanged man
His hair standing on end,
His boots in the air.
Write, sing, boo,
Do what you will
Never mind the outcome.
Words are cheap, they said,
But they knew better.
The price was dust--
Gold dust, that is--
By the ounce. Enough.
Enough.
Swinging from that bough,
Rope rubbing the bark raw:
It was a tree in that rotunda,
Where they hung them high.
Crows roost there at night.
Monkeys swing by day.
The crows fly away.
The monkeys take flight.
Women come and go,
Taking the sight.
Evening is still
Outside where the grass grows.
Obsidian crutches punch the ground.
Eagles fly where they please.
They do not fly near the tree.
Effervescent truly,
Shards unruly,
Dying away like rumblings,
Trains at the station
Puff and wait, puff and wait.
They pull like many horses.
Over in Scotland,
Inverness is halted.
The city is slow,
The soul of the yard.
Fruit ripens all golden
Everything rotten,
Lies on the ground.
Shuffle the deck and draw water
Encamped on the trail.
7/13/17
Cowabunga
I'm coming in with a hunga munga
Near and far from any rotunda
Going in and out the umbra
While close and beyond yucca
Across desert, grassland, forest and tundra
Yargh!
Now I'm wielding a katar
And scimitar
On par
Ready to spar
Time I raise the bar
Hallelujah
Next I'll use the zhua
Above and below plants and fruit trees such as satsuma
Regarding any terrain with or without puma and vicuna
As well as waters that do or don't have tuna, beluga and barracuda
If that doesn't work, then surely will the bazooka
Raft branch buoyed in canopy crossroad
Ocelot pillow paws rail rainforest rotunda
Yataghan claws trail trunk, track cathode
Assailant arouse pounces, stiff tail rudder
Lithe, while night looms, lightspeed silent
Ogling exotic shores - she yanks anchor
Centipede nimble Queen needs her tiara
Evermore adorned, baubles bean arabica
Lustrous pearl dozes on dark décolletage
Opulent moon mother of tides, sly tyrant
Tortures subordinates to claim her island
Iridescent iris treasure hunt sailor ocelot
Spotted sea captain keeps snake for halo
Lapis lazuli exclusively steers royal yacht
Asphyxiating prey, Casper crouch lay low
Navigating her way to throne, puss pirate
Drapes cashmere ears in conquest crown
Nautical Nineteenth November
Twig twists intersect then spread victory
Receptors sprout cat waving paws
Fold fruit bowl foliage, branch tributary
Lump eye timber columns support
Steer me clear of thatch caged cluster
Cheerleader twirling ribbons sizzle
Shifted to soft focus forest, fairy dusted
In drifting dandelion seed celestial
Thrown down overlap of toasty tobacco
Crinkle constant joke cracked faces
Humour grants razor slim grasses tackle
Unused nests during seasons' phases
Basket interweave splice strap sun poke
Probes timid shade a radiating halo
Lathered limbs in blossom shampoo soak
Crown me neath ghostly citrine glow
Sombre trots towards her restful rotunda
Floating pollen fluff Snugglepot ego
Fingers spring flags of woodland wonder
Grip ant gazette trail to safe gazebo
6th March
Exists in the middle
Taxes are not talking nor are they taxis. But airports are often very congested. Packed tightly forming queues. Vastly unreported by news. News are neatly arranged newts in a bath licking ice cream. And a single melt of globular sploosh is merely an unwelcome loss. So washing becomes very dextrous in beckoning an eroded surface. Bubbles can form at will from depths of over fifty five feet. Whereupon a steely coloured beast of old will rise to take on even the mightiest of modern weaponry. When travelling in herds step left right left rigidly and always steer to the centre. Cinematic viewpoints of pathways filled with the patterned stardust trails. Break no saucepan in a rage. And cage no plant. It is to be said that at this time the potency of a banana sandwich with jam can run at great athletic speed over a basin drop. So always drag a meal to a ballroom. With chains. It is also wise and often imperative to shield eyes with cups and harness the knives,forks,and spoons. So as to avoid the high fluted champagne glasses who can be very nasty if crossed. Particularly if wearing a nine million pound gown. Sweep no lawn for lawns must be mown with a one centimetre pair of scissors. Many blades. Long time cutting. And dangling off the central high way at midnight is a feat only achieved by a very large circular bat. Pinnacles painting prisons playing political polo parties. And jester moments from the east and west ignite laughter and cheers from birth and south. So far heard by the eleventh moon many miles away. Air current velocity then. In a bowl. Chatting to a ladle about the state the potatoes are arranged in. It us simply not done. Unheard of in fact. To chop and place potatoes next to carrot and cabbage when all must surely know by now that this is unsafe as they simply do not get along together and therefore the soup will taste most sour. Dour diaries digging digital downloaded dreams. And a large portion of porridge in a mist on the horizon. Skipping. Hahahaha face of a thoughtful tissue. Hahaha exclamations exciting existential exotic experiences explicitly. Hahaha rotunda rotating rut. Xxxxx numerology Z that was the latest from the p y q reporting from a morning zoo next to a nice sty. Z cvb jackets Z.
Sea of blue drifts to a balmier port of call
Last satiating beams from soaring canopy sprawl
From distant, seamless divide swarthy portents fall
Nearer, a blood orange ridge ballasts spiralling ball
A mercurial prism swaggers on horizon as flittering shades draw
Satin clouds now tinged with streaks of gray into the porous rotunda withdraw
Twilight's encroaching shadows the availing light doth pall
As dusk's ashen shroud spreads its bleary shawl
Gilded eagles through the vapid recess trawl
Slowly Night's inky jets across the airy expanse do scrawl
As Sailor's moon from the darken undertow doth crawl
Anon, twinkling sprites appear each prancing freely in designated stall
A galaxy of flood lights dancing blithely in sable hall
Stayed up all night and wrote a poem for you
You told me that you had been feeling down
I bought some food and made a snack for two
Then caught a bus to meet you love in town
Rotunda grew, as I approached the stop,
The market bright, with fruity colours in sight
Adjacent to stood new tall rows of shops
And from the crowds your smile was like a light.
You were sat down in pause and self amused
Your eyes were glad when once you saw my face
My look of tired unsmile to which you’re used
Then up you stood and walked to me with grace,
Reached out and took my hand, stood on tiptoe
Pulled me in close then kissed my lips real slow.
I'm Canadian eh! from the frozen tundra
Stored food for the winter, so I'm a little rotunda
Not worried a bit
Soon be back in fit
How I make it though winter, it's a wondra
Travelling over fifty three metres on a baking tray is a wonderful way in which to pass the time. When loosening ties and burning buttons it is very clever to talk to a large parrot who sits by a keyhole patiently but with occasional chatter. Never spill tea on an ornate cane as poles carry such weight and presence on a room. A stain is a tarnish and tarnished can be removed by using the heavyweight duties of a very smiley steamroller. Passing posting playing pleasing pleasantly proper people pinging. And a western decorated pine is much likened to a round landscape when placing beetroot in formation. Ambidextrous cycling apparitions sailing past down the lane. Wave then. Good. Goblets grabbing giving great gifts. And a seasonal fair having a fantastic party in a hexagonal room. Sitting and dwelling is often quite smelly really so always bounce around the house emulating as many different species of plant and animal as humanly possible in twenty-three minutes and ten seconds. A rotunda can travel at high speeds when wind blows quickly. But lucky it was the quacks on a lake did not get disturbed by rocks thrown. Very good news this. But business brings big beastiology and weapons for ants require more than one dose of antiseptic from a garden plant. Take no takeaway for a dinner date. And use at least one hundred sponges when cleaning a wall. Fantastical notions of a garden gnome. Wow. Here comes a flower in a nice swirly skirt. Oh yes alot of hahahahaha and lots of xxxxxxxxxxx and neither a field marshal nor a judicial uniform could stagnate a frozen pond. Xxxx culmination z