Best Solitude Poems
I relinquish my pen before the storm
of her tears falling upon my bare arm
her gentle whispering breathed in my ear
Muse of mine, adieu to your wit and charm
With piqued reasons I have come to deduce
It's time to say fond farewell to my muse
She should seek a new poet and lay claim
for my words have grown utterly abstruse
Spare me sullen eyes, from cries in refrain
I shall not weep in sadness nor disdain
Bitterness does not become a recluse
My poet's heart weakens, I dare not feign
Time's drawn the shades in darkness of night
No candle flame shall glimmer enough light
in which I may be tempted before morn
to doubt seclusion and attempt to write
Cloistered without pen, I shall ever be
From thinking in rhyme I shall be set free
Poems half written on bits of scrap paper
I shall lock away and then toss the key
My hand has retired, this last poem now penned
No more idyll thoughts of mind will transcend
Bereft of rhymes and abandoned of verse
This poet knows her time has reached an end
Ink no longer flows through my tunneled veins
Expressed emotions in poetry wanes
And when interred, on my stone I shall read,
"Reclusive poet" over my remains
(This theme coincidentally matched up with another contest I recently
entered, so I revised my sonnet and then PD graciously extended this
idea of a day of happy solitude. Thanks, Linda, for keeping it in sonnet
form! It's a double sonnet now!)
Happy Solitude/Andrea Dietrich
In solitude, I watch the clear blue sky.
Leaves flutter on the grand majestic oak
beneath which I am sitting;. Swallows fly
around me, swooping! Now I hear a croak -
a sound that I am sure I’d never hear
if I were on a busy city street.
I stand and walk around. The sound is near.
The feeling that I get is rather sweet
when finally I spot there on the pond
the tiny frog that’s serenading me.
Crops rippling in the breeze I see beyond
my shaded spot. I'm running - feeling free.
Inside a field with flowers everywhere,
I'm whirling as the sunlight gilds my hair!
-----
Like the sun, I sit and explore the view
A sensation, of everything I lust
Feelings I found myself unequal to
Yellow leaves fall to the ground like gold dust
Once, I reached to touch a lonely rock
The sounds return back into the shadows
I felt trapped by the beauty as I walk
Suddenly branches hung like the gallows
In slow motion, with no reason to stray
Facing down, the new founding sound follows
The croak in the water echoes with play
Captivated, by the flies it swallows
A young, peaceful feel, indulging in fun
I shall kiss and see if he's the right one
~A Poet Destroyer Collaboration~
The mustard seed
a wild mustard seed took flight
carried aloft in gathering light
over thistle'd sage and poppies
in countless colorful copies
as brash rain showers subside
the retreat of angry clouds abide
scolded by the Northern wind
in search of infinity's final end
once barren hills, now painted gold
snow geese forage with fledgling fold
amid the flutter of swallowtail's wings
from soil sprouted seedling life brings
'til once more mustard's children are blown
from heaven's heights the earth is sown
~~~Dedicated to my Uncle Joe~~~
A solitary man
I make my way up the mountain
One step at a time
The life I know further and further behind
I wish to be alone
away from the busyness
the incessant noise
my many responsibilities
life’s never ending activities
work that is never done
all of life’s many conflicts
I reach the top
sit down and cross my legs
As I look out at the landscape
my village is a small mass of thatched roofs
the people barely seeable
I see smoke rising from a central fire
wondering if I will be missed
From this distance the lake appears so small
I imagine it fitting into a wooden spoon
The horizon surrounds me
stretching my eyes
distracting me from the pebbles beneath me
blades of grass are now myopically large
I watch as the ants toil
Are our lives not the same?
Seasons change
Summer to fall
Winter to spring
I witness it all
My beard lengthens as my mind enlarges
Secrets have been revealed
Disconnected yet I am a part of all
I grow downward into the ground
Others come to the mountain top
seeking wisdom
They sit with me for a while
never staying long
Each takes from me so that they may give
I am a man transformed
Arms outstretched reaching to all the horizons
covered with foliage
The seasons continue to change
I send my leaves down to the village
beconing them to come to the mountain
no longer do I want to be alone
"Come sit beneath my branches
caress my bark smell my scent
know my soul."
You come to the mountain top
But I am no longer able to audibly speak
All that I know resides in the rings of my seasons
Still you partake of my wisdom
Putting your ear to my trunk
You can hear my lonely heart beat
aware of my breath whistling through leather like leaves
I attach my seeds to your woolen coat
You are a solitary man
making your way down from the mountain
One step at a time
Closer and closer to our village
To the ones you love
As you walk through the village you shake your coat
Seeds fall on the fertile ground
Finally I have come home...
Incessant din of jammed highways
suddenly lulled to deserted streets
quiet of rustle forlorn breeze plays
laughter of birds, smiling sun greets
diamond dews glisten ruby petals
on a palette of piano, poetry muse
in slow drench, rain falls and settles
as fragrance flows wisteria avenues
soft chimes within, no temple bells
moments of now, create my world
in solitude with nature, a divine spell
counting cosmos, in stardust swirled
wild waves pacified in peace of shore
graceful moonlight, sunbeams in calm
can hear beats in my deep heart's core
a tranquil meditation, my sorrow's balm.
sentinent of truth, has burned all my vigil
fears vanished, no sound of human strife
in viscous sedation, I enjoy a mystic sigil
arcane power, I have fallen in love with life.
Dated 6th May 2020
Sponsor Mark Toney
Contest Name 2022 Poetry Marathon
Drawn by subtle intuition
I follow a winding path
into the heart of the woods,
emerging in an open glade
where feeble sunlight falls
upon a moss covered wall.
Isomorphic intimacy holds
me in a trance; latching
the present to the past, as
nostalgia flirts with mixed
emotions. Resting my hand
on the stone slabs I caress
the rough texture with affinity
sensing the agony of collapsed
aspirations, decayed dreams,
and the utter helplessness
of the irreversible.
--------------------
This poem has been published in a PoetrySoup Anthology:
“Reflections on the Important Things” Nov 2023 (print)
"Wall in the Woods" contest
Sponsored by Craig Cornish
Placed 3rd
© 11th October 2020
Is there a way you can show me your silence?
This world is deafening to me
Can I find the words that I'm seeking..
Dream of a quiet place with only you speaking
Teach me to hear with my other senses
draw down all these distorted fences
Want to listen through the day with you
the whole day in a quiet song of you
just of you
learn from your solitude
I want to., now and forever
know what it is to feel through only those few
the touch of your hand
replace the fragments of a symphonic band
Invite me to your silent world
show me the other side of sound
a place where tranquil peace is found.
~~ Dedicated to a great world poet and friend Demetrios Trifiatis ~~
the solitude
the silence
silence of a bee in the forest
silence of the leaves
leaves on majestic trees
leaves my soul quivering
quivering treasures
quivering happiness and joy
joy of freedom and journeying on
joy in my soul beyond time
time entangled in vines
time to pause in the emerald
emerald windswept meadows trembling
emerald velvet foliage creeping
creeping and creeping the embroidery of green
creeping sunlight fills the shadows
shadows are where the violets sleep
shadows hide a hundred chirping wings
wings of the poets dreamy muse
wings of a little butterfly kissing the decay
decay in the tangled branches
decay beautiful and divine
divine tufts of yellow
divine bliss in silence
silence in the garlands of green
silence in hushed echoes
echoes of unseen songsters
echoes of wild streams bubbling and flowing
flowing pen
flowing words and verses
verse amongst the scattered dandelions
verses in the whispering calm
calm the clusters of vines twining
calm the bliss
bliss in a deep canopy of towering giants
bliss under an azure above
above the cowslip and foxglove
above blue birds fly
fly downy wings
fly with the sweet wind
wind that whispers in my ears
wind that lifts the tufts of pretty flowers
flowers wilted and dying
flowers with petals forlorn
forlorn my poetic words
forlorn and weeping
weeping on tattered paper in solitude
weeping poems and rhymes and verses
created in the silence
solitude . . .
_______________________
May 23, 2015
Poetry/Blitz/''silence sweet solitude''
Copyright Protected, ID 05-676-485-23
All Rights Reserved, 2015, Constance La France
Written for the Standard contest, shhhhh
sponsor, Silent One, Judged 2015
8th Place
Hidden away
between the broken chimes
of church bells
lies the dream of a man
the waltz of a butterfly
and love for one woman
He carves her name from a star
on a pebble~
burying it deep
where corals sleep
Across the moon
wishes concieve
from moist salt on his cheek
in the womb of an ocean
ocean so deep,ocean so dark
dark as the night in his soul
Hidden away
between the broken chimes
of church bells
lies the dream of a woman
the soft breeze of a petal
and love for one man
She paints his smile from a rainbow
holding it high ~
where sunsets splash
in the sky
Across the moon
wishes concieve
in the womb of a desert
desert so steep,desert so dry
dry as each crack on her lips
Hidden away
between the melidious chime
of church bells
lives the love of a man
lives the love of a woman
where oceans meet
where deserts greet
where stars collide
where dewdrops fall
Lashes caress
the dream in their eyes
Play Solitude...Sing...
In my arms you can forget your troubles
Close your eyes and leave them all behind
I’ll sway you tenderly to loving rhythms
I’ll comfort you to sweet musical perfumes
And protect you with all the serenity
Of a thousand starry midnights
Under feathery wispy lakeshore willows
That waver in cool late summer breezes
Close your eyes and leave all worries behind
AP: Honorable Mention 2020
I walk and walk
and in my mind
I walk toward
something someone you
I walk and walk
in a motion I wish was soothing
somehow it’s nowhere that I walk
never getting closer
I wonder how it is I’m walking
riding life’s evermoving sidewalk
going against the tide against the grain
never getting closer
static not getting anywhere
and not getting further
I’m left alone with my illusion
of somehow getting closer
AP: Honorable Mention 2022
Submitted on May 31, 2022 for contest A BRIAN STRAND PREMIERE CHOICE sponsored by BRIAN STRAND - RANKED 5TH
Oh, trees of once so forest green
now shrouded to me in pale hues
as my hearts reflection of blues
mirrors a lifeless figurine
Pray hide from me sunbursts of glow
for the sky is of mist alone
and where I roam as cold as stone
all thoughts run deep and overflow
Shadowy shaped vapours haunt me
with your gaze of cerulean blue
and if to feel your touch I drew
my hand that longed the touch of thee
All worn paths I fear now to tread
for there are haunting scents of you
that so relentlessly pursue
a heart that’s already long dead
All alone as teardrops of blue
and misty, hazy dreams of you
float away once more out of view
forsaking what my heart once knew
The golden hope
Of brighter tomorrow
Slides into the salty ocean
No steam or bubbles
Just the crimson joy of the clouds
Escorting
With their shifting ochre tones
While fiery orange irradiates
The grateful atmosphere
Until slowly
Ever so slowly
Into the ripples of the horizon's haze
The queen of the daylight
Slinks
Then is gone
Her wispy train of colour
Vanishing
As the blue king of the night
Claims his place
And sits in the throne room
Of the speckled sky
In quest of wisdom supreme
Seeking truth esoteric
Beyond gravity, space, time,
Beyond senses of mankind,
In solitude, musing mind,
She invokes satori dreams
And finds zeal of nirvana
In sublime motifs of peace
October 20, 2020
Placed 2nd: Impressions Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Nette Onclaud
Visual # 3
Seven syllables per line (howmanysyllables.com)
“In solitude, the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon itself.” Laurence Sterne
far from the human humdrum
solitude shrouds mountainsides
subtle snowflakes fall on spruce
I run towards the cabin
the heat is enjoyable
I open my fine laptop
type chapter three of my book
no characters spoil the scene
silence of nature elates
reflections of sublime thoughts
calming of a waterfall
falling from a cliff nearby
man feels peace in solitude
far from turbulence of life
now all is calm and peaceful
a rainbow appears afar
Placed 1