Best Sidling Poems
(A Children's Poem)
I see you
little star
sidling up to the moon
to steal a kiss
from off his brow.
I see you
little star
twinkling in the sky
winking at me
as you pass by.
I see you
little star
gliding past milky whey
on your way
down to where we are.
Categories:
sidling, fantasy, good night, light,
Form:
Light Verse
The Long Trail © by Trisha Sugarek
The Circle Heart brand on the wet rump rippled
as the horse shivered with exhaustion
the sun lost its battle with night and
dropped behind the far peak
Chaparejos, worn thin and soft fit his legs
like they had grown there
Dusty spurs jangled as he trotted into the sleepy town
A saddle that had seen a thousand miles creaked
and complained as he stepped down
the crown of his hat was stained with sweat
from the hard ride
Reins dangled in the dirt
The horse hung his head, relieved to not
be moving anymore
A drink or two to wash the Santa Fe Trail dust
from the cowboy’s throat he stepped up onto the boardwalk,
turned and gazed at the town
and the mountains beyond
the color of old blood as the sun lost its glory
He pulled a cigarillo out, and with one smooth
movement wiped a match on his pants, the tiny
flame igniting
He puffed and blew smoke into the night air
watched the town close up for the night
Across the street a cur scurried around a corner
a merchant keyed his shop closed and
lit the gas lantern beside his door
The work had been good at the Circle Heart ranch, the grub even better
But the trail was his siren, always calling him, luring him over the next hill, down the next wash,
up the next canyon
sleeping next to a small camp fire,
staring at a billion stars
wondering if someone, something out there
was staring back
He wanted to settle but he hadn’t found
the right place
the right woman
the right time
Flicking the smoke into the street, he turned
and entered the saloon,
honky-tonk piano music played
The doors behind him whispered back and forth
The patrons saw another dusty, tired cowpoke, looking
for a few hours of pleasure
some music, some whiskey, and if he could afford it
the soft arms of a woman
The cowboy saw weak town folk,
forever saddled to their days
the bit in their mouths dictating their lives
wary of any stranger, their gaze sidling away
Set ‘em up and keep ‘em comin’, the cowboy barked
Show me your coin, the barkeep growled
His days were numbered
the boys from the Circle Heart ranch would find
him and the horse
They would take their horse and probably string
him up to the nearest tree
Categories:
sidling, horse,
Form:
Free verse
Meanwhile, Mrs. Pappadopoulos
has circled back and plops down
on Fred's front porch, all tuckered out
So Fred cheerfully pulls up a chair
and together they sit and stare
openly ogling, gawking, gaping
because, as everyone knows-
it's not considered staring
if you're in a group of more than one
Miss Luby doesn't care about this rule
as she is inside, and thus it doesn't apply
she perches in a strategically placed
armchair, cat on lap, and munches
popcorn like she is at a movie
relishing the mystery of new neighbors
as well as the passing parade
“Welcome to the neighborhood!”
old Mr. Nicholson says
sidling across the lawn
toward the unsuspecting couple
unlike the other neighbors
who manage to maintain some sense
of pretense, the incorrigibly nosy
Mr. Nicholson comes right out
and interrogates the new neighbors
asking all the terribly inappropriate questions
everyone wants to know
but would never dare to ask
And as the new neighbors
stammer and stutter
taken aback, bewildered, bumfuzzled
by this brazen barrage
of curious queries
little fish-eyes blink behind
the little round spectacles
on his curiously boyish face
matter-of-fact, he is
utterly unfazed and unaware
of the discomfort he is creating
eventually, quota filled
he hobbles home
to share the wealth
As night begins to fall
the new neighbors finally finish unloading
and head back toward the house
In a last ditch effort at a closer look
Jake, the middle-aged man from next door
brings over his heartfelt housewarming gift
rich display of bachelor hospitality-
half a lukewarm pizza
in a greasy box
and a liter of cola
Categories:
sidling, community, humanity, humor, humorous,
Form:
Free verse
On balmy beach blithe commodore
Without ship, rudder, or rowing oar
Striding gusts, waves only chore
Soothing breeze girdles the shore
Sidling along, currents to explore
Mind's tranquil base to restore
Body's chafed shaft to bore
Frothy mist o'er skin doth pour
Swabbed flesh awaiting encore
To swaddle each beckoning pore
More cooling streams do implore
To massage deep into heated core
Somnolent tune blithe rhythms store
Each floating note tingling drums score
Fluttering through ethereal seams do soar
Then descends, rasping at heart's sheltered door
Categories:
sidling, beach
Form:
Rhyme
In a dusty fleabit mining town
The kind you’d see on screen
The stranger rode down Main Street
Looking evil, looking mean
He packed a pair of six guns
And a sawn off in his vest
Those folks was mighty nervous
But that’s something you’d a guessed
The drug store shut the shutters
And the hotel did the same
The sky grew dark and cloudy, and
It looked like it might rain
The stranger in his poncho
He stayed sitting on his horse
He’d rode near fifty miles
He was saddle sore, of course
It took some time, but he got down
Then standing in the street
He opened up a well worn pouch
And rolled a cigareet
He struck a match across his chin
And in it’s dying flame
Some folks recognised him
Though, they didn’t know his name
Moving slowly down the boardwalk
Headin’ straight towards the bar
The light’ning flashed and all could see
The stranger wore a star
He pushed in through the bar room door
And silence filled the air
Those men was mean and moody
He could feel their hateful stare
Sidling slowly to a barstool, well
The mood, it sorta eased
For at last they had a starman
And they seemed like they was pleased
The starman drank his coffee
Ate some victuals and some bread
It had been a long hard day,and
He was ready for his bed
But then he saw the gunman
From the corner of his eye
He knew the man was faster
And he knew that he could die
Dressed in black all over
Staring deep into the room
The gunman, like a shadow
Almost hidden in the gloom
Though running short of time
The lawman hatched a cunning plan
He only had one chance to get
The better of this man
Moving quickly from his barstool
Heading straight toward the door
The sheriff hit the gunman
And, the gunman hit the floor
Categories:
sidling, adventure, cowboy-western, death, funny
Form:
Light Verse
Sad Shiloh trots nervously across the frozen ground,
Hesitantly, then decidedly, sidling up to a new lady.
At long last has he a loving mistress found?
Will she rescue him from this place, so penned in and shady?
This golden canine, with body thin and coat lackluster,
Places his heart in her hand,
Hoping she’ll see the unrequited love he offers
As his glowing eyes implore her to understand.
She cannot turn away,
And her golden girl needs a brother,
So she promises with her he’ll stay,
That she’ll bless him with the love of a true mother.
Slowly, Shiloh sheds his sadness and learns to play,
His coat, now shiny, grows over healing sores.
He flourishes in mind and body each day.
Shiloh’s eager to please, but there is something more.
The lady realizes Shiloh cannot clearly see,
That’s why he bumps into things and misses in fetch games.
Her tender heart vows to accept what will be,
For Shiloh’s love has rescued her and her golden girl, the same.
Categories:
sidling, dog, eulogy, feelings, friendship,
Form:
Sonnet
The kids are gone, I'm retired, I'm taking a long vacation,
To an island with sunny beaches - that's my destination!
I'll spend the days savoring a climate of seventy-two degrees,
Snoozing beneath the palms, fanned by an ocean breeze!
Each morn as I stretch and yawn to meet another gorgeous day,
A glorious sunrise greets me from across the shimmering bay!
I release the worries and frustrations from my languid soul,
As upon the beautiful, sandy strand I take my morning stroll!
'Tis soothing to the ear as the surf floods the pristine beach.
Beyond that there is heard only the terns' occasional screech.
Sandpipers and sidling crabs entertain me scurrying about.
I watch a ship across the aqua sea, plying its leisurely route!
'Tis relaxing to sip a rum swizzle when another day is done,
And just sit back to enjoy the grandeur of the setting sun!
Later, as though emerging from the sea, rises a brilliant moon,
And romantic music serenades me from across the lagoon!
I'll have a lobster dinner, then to bed because it's getting late,
Or maybe a dip in the surf! But hold on! Just a minute! Wait!
Gliding across the moonlit beach something makes my eyes gleam!
A bikini-clad beauty....! Alas, the missus pokes me shattering my dream!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
Categories:
sidling, funny, romance, me, me,
Form:
Rhyme
Does the Sea
Suffuse...
Does the Sea
Perfuse...
the sponge?
Slipping, sidling
in:
the Great Outbreath
of the far forgot shore;
so small now as to be
Unimaginable,
upwells in swells the
Entirety of this sea -
and heaves these easy seas
from shore to shore
as
sure as the moon’s dim
light is gasped over
when its wax is over -
when full; when only moonlight
lights the matte blacknight.
Does the Sea,
enter, entirely,
the sponge
and, in doing
so
forget itself?
Does the Sea,
in its Perfusion
forget itself?
Does the Sea believe itself to be
a sponge?
Or does the see,
take up a demonym?
Or does the Sea remain the Sea
no matter no matter
no matter how
fully
it inhabits, it saturates, it permeates
the Sponge?
For that matter,
does the sponge,
in being infilled wholly by
the Sea, believe itself to be
The Sea?
Categories:
sidling, nature, ocean, philosophy,
Form:
Free verse
A bloom of valor in the heat of summer
ushering me to the epitome of a deep inhale
she becomes by far my flower of the hour
velvet to the touch with red cherry ooze, she is perfect
and is always ready to permeate the air with her exhume
ushering me to the epitome of a deep inhale
she sets my senses reeling with her sweet perfume
this classy flower proud of stature claims my garden
and is always ready to permeate the air with her exhume
her summer spritz, traverses alongside my Doc Martens
I feel privy to her floral dance, as I advance
this classy flower proud of stature claims my garden
for she is unequaled to any bud of sidling stance
offering hope for a brighter tomorrow
I feel privy to her floral dance, as I advance
she takes away my every sorrow
a bloom of valor in the heat of summer
offering hope for a brighter tomorrow
she becomes by far my flower of the hour
Categories:
sidling, appreciation, flower,
Form:
Terzanelle
I sat with rum and Joan Baez the other day
Writing up three poems in Bombay
One short another crooked
Yet not quite a disaster
The other long and sad
Not very bad but still not much more
Than a chinchilla whore
In her teens, plump, with baby fat
Still around her cheekbones, shoulders, waistflesh
Trellised eaves
A tooting car on Cadell Road
Dusk falling, friends out on a binge,
I alone in the darkening flat
Joan Baez on my knee her voice from the cassette recorder
Blurring the border between voice and flesh
And letting them enmesh
Wafting out over lonely streets
Climbing the Pali Hills
Sidling in stealth by private yew hedges
To caress like silk the legs of a party
Falling to pieces at only six-thirty
Prosaic, proselytizing like Diogenes in the bin
Beard straggling all over an obdurate chin
Breathe in the voice let the pictures go by
Looking for a conjuror in the sky
And confused, return
Dreams back to ashes, ashes to the urn
Quiet in the knowledge that ashes don’t burn.
They say some poetry
Is coming out of me
Juice wrung out by iron teeth
From the tender heart of a slender tree.
Categories:
sidling, nostalgiavoice, voice,
Form:
Free verse
Pale orb the bleary wake incites
Pallid streams procession ignites
Twilight's caravan gives last beams flight
Deep browns, oranges funerary pyre light
Glare from Day's spent hours moon's spawning rays spite
Day's face shares last glint then bier shutters tight
Into gray abyss Helios's flaming spirit doth kite
In ethereal corridor veiled remnants with chilling vapors slight
Night's doleful dirge; sprightly pallbearers shoulder blight
In vapid sanctuary, a jading stillness appends eerie rite
Nyx's strobe earth's dimmed floor with shadows doth requiet
Sidling tributaries in contrite cadence blink at earth's plight
Slow rhythms of Nyx's bleating requiem soul's sleep doth invite
Categories:
sidling, dark,
Form:
Rhyme
Eternity With You
It seems like an eternity that you have been gone,
But every day; you're still on my mind, like a song
Sidling through this loving heart of mine
It never fails, every single day, every single time.
But I don't mind that you do,
You'd always bring a smile with you
So, pull up a chair, Hunny let's reminisce
You can stay with me for a while, I insist.
Remember when the kids were small,
We would go to the "Meadows of Our Love."
Where the kids would rumble and tumble around
We would talk for hours, holding hands being strong.
I'll never forget; those days done passed,
You brightened my days; you made me laugh
How could I forget; the time that we shared
When you were here, inside our love that we beard.
I am burning the "Lilac" candle for you,
In appreciation for; "remembering, my boo."
Now that you're gone, I have accepted your leave;
I'll be waiting in the "Meadows," our Season's to breathe.
R.I.P. Shannon, I love you; you complete me!
Categories:
sidling, beautiful, deep, devotion, husband,
Form:
Rhyme
DEFEAT
Out of the waves they come.
Helmeted army of crabs
Trundle over the perfect pools
Of starfish and periwinkle,
Murking up the sandy bottom
Of their foxholes,
Armoured claws testing each mollusk for food,
Sidling up to my toes
In marauding hunger.
I retreat inland,
Allowing them their beachhead.
Categories:
sidling, beach,
Form:
Free verse
As he glanced around the crowded bar
he slipped off the golden band.
Admiring the curve of her back from afar
he hid the tan line on his hand.
Sidling up to her he said
"would you like to go for a ride?"
She laughed a little and turned her head.
To his shock it was his own bride!
She slapped him and told him they were through
then told him to pack his stuff.
His cheating ways were nothing new
and she'd finally had enough.
The moral of this tale is cheaters lose.
Don't end up singing the adulterer's blues!
for contest"Cheater Cheater"
sponsored by Susan Burch
Categories:
sidling, husband, wife,
Form:
Rhyme
Rapa Nui Warriors stand bright and tall and stark
Monolithic dynasties enshrined in all our hearts
But what if I told you, til death doth do us part
Santa's elves could fill the shelves,
Yet you'd still leave your mark
Rapa Nui Warriors croon and beg and steal
Overarching humanity, like we're their final meal
A menacing divinity, one revolutionary zeal
Here is pen and paper, please sign our Satanic deal
But what of a winter, a bubbling brook
The heaviest of moai, all misshapen and shook
Where in the Kabbalah, the Qu'ran, the Lord's Good Book
Are we braced from E4 to E10,
Like the Man's unholy rook
In fraudulent suspense, here we sit idling
An educated mass, a society found sidling
Disgruntled, divine, cultured and crass
Insufficiently aerated, just like Mama Cass
Rapa Nui Warriors slouch meek and proud and mild
Seemingly inconspicuous, like the wild in a child
Innate maliciousness, see the expulsion of the Yids
For all will seem serene, until you're the final bid
Categories:
sidling, allusion, anxiety, political, power,
Form:
Free verse