Best Sounder Poems
I spied a valley low
Across the road from the cemetery
A Columbus monkey swinging by
The trees of the vale
Stood tall and forlorn
Observing the crematorium
Covered in light gray smoke
As morning traffic streamed on by
Giraffe reached for the tallest bough
And I thought I heard the leopards growl
And by the road was a troop of baboons
As people walked on by
And a few yards away,
Was the army garrison
A regiment trooped on by,
As a sounder was grazing idly by
And people walked on by
Yes I spied a valley low
Where life carried on slow
Across the road from the cemetery
Where footsteps were dull and hollow
A funeral procession was going on
Yes the trees of the vale
Were tall and forlorn
The sun hung high and lorn
As were the clouds of dawn
As I drove along that road
Away from that valley low
Categories:
sounder, animal, funeral, people,
Form:
Free verse
Beneath thunderous waves near craggy shores
Exist in frigid seas the ancient men of cold blue
Fallen angels who now cast to earth are kind no more
Courageous seaman’s souls they look to accrue.
Imprudent men have eternally suffered
Callously the blue men of Minch, have crested the waves
Pursuing those without wit, for the challenge that’s offered
Condemning fools forever to the brinies depths and it’s caves.
Beware of the blue men and their command of the seas.
Fierce waves will extend from a flick of their tails,
Exhaling breathe launches a furious breeze
Masts shall be shattered; and shredded are sails.
Consider angels as fair, but fear the blue men of the Minch
Salvation will always encroach with a twist
Quick be the poets, whose conviction won’t flinch
Sheltered passage from verse, is the pardon, that blue men insist.
Trading verse with the devil, would be sounder for souls
Blue men of Minch have true depth to both rhyme and their prose
Brandish poems from heart and the head instead of old scrolls
Caution for that cold clench of the sea, is the poet that froze.
Categories:
sounder, blue, mythology, poetry,
Form:
Rhyme
From Scrabster harbour we set
Sea fishing we go
Off Dunnett Head
Dinghy in tow
A few hours we sail
To reach the spot
To hunt our catch
Check my lobster pots
This Pentland firth
Flowing blue and fresh
With our deep sea rods
Various baits, spinning meps
Along the way
Some pots we check
Crustacean grab
Lobster and dab
Destination reached
Our fishing ground
Sounder on
Fish are found
Leaded up, lines straight
Darrow's aplenty, strengthened trace
Lines down bottom hit
Watch the tip as we drift
The waves deceive
We think a bite
Natures water
Tricks us slight
This beautiful day
As patience allows
We hear a shout
From the starboard bow
Wow! dad,
Look at the bend on your rod
Is it a dogfish or ling
Or a monster cod
Posture right to reel this catch
Has this fisherman met his match
Over an hour this marathon lasts
Fish against man, sporting ask
Forearms ache, back strains
I reel it in, it then regains
Is it tiring, or is it me
This awesome creature from the sea
Moments later
Surface splash
A wing of skate
Adrenalin blast
Fish aboard
Tagged and weighed
Released with care
In its domain we played
The day goes on
With various catch
But only the one
Had met his match
The evening draws
With the firth so calm
As we watch the sunset
With a golden dram
To Mother Nature we raise our glass
She is indeed, such a wonderful lass
Categories:
sounder, nature, sea, sportsfishing,
Form:
Rhyme
Written: December 06, 2024
___________________________
We were born into tribes
cinctured by bonds and praxis
welded by ambits and dictums
an eyeless chasm.
But scope a sounder view
just under the shimmering surface
and the outcome will be luculent
our parallels often outshine our oddities.
Our blood is crimson
all of us slipshod weeps
all of us longing for love
all of us fail to face our fears.
Our zeal fashion fetching flow
our souls seek seraphic symbiosis
we all itch for a warm welcome
and achieve startling accolades.
But, we build walls,
and draw lines in the sand,
we judge hinged on appearance,
and ignore the outstretched hand.
But if we may just foresee,
beyond the color of our skin,
and the language we spree,
we may find kin.
Because in the recesses of our souls
within our deep cores
all of us are noxious
rhapsodic around finding fulfillment.
So let's slip away,
from the chains of tribalism,
and gasp our kinships,
with love and hope.
For only then,
can we for real unite,
and transcend our differences,
Into a world of light.
Categories:
sounder, analogy, humanity,
Form:
Free verse
In my family garden, there grows a lovely rose.
A beautiful blossom who helps rid me of my woes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I dedicate these couplets to my sister, Frances Rose.
Dearest Sister, Fran,
As children, it was you and me. We only had each other.
Never really felt a connection with our older brother.
Younger than I, by little more than just a year,
you're always there to comfort me in my times of fear.
With my marriage at its end, I was filled with sorrow,
You came to me and said, "I've a shoulder you can borrow."
You rescued me, when in the night 'he' broke my hand.
You are my cool water when I cross the desert sand.
Without you by my side I would have fallen apart.
You held me close when you saw the condition of my heart.
I'm the big sister who should be looking after you,
but you wear the angel wings when I'm feeling blue.
You never make me feel ashamed by saying, "I told you so."
So I'm writing you this couplet poem just so you'll know.
No matter how many times I stumble and I fall,
you bend and pick me up so I never have to crawl.
You are my umbrella when the rain pours down,
my fairy godmother when I'm in need of a gown.
You are my life raft when in the sea I flounder.
You reason with me until my mind is sounder.
You are my protector from those who lie,
Give me strength when our loved ones die.
When others turn their backs and don't seem to care
I know you'll be at my side. You've always been there.
You dry my tears and then bring me to laughter.
And for all you do, I'll be grateful forever after.
If I ask you to do me a favor,
You smile and say, "Sure, what flavor?'
Much more than just a friend...that's a sad cliché.
There is only one more thing that I have to say.
Because you're the only one who has ever really understood,
I love you far beyond the sharing of our beautiful sisterhood.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Lin Lane ~ December 18th 2015
Sibling Contest ~ Eve Roper
Categories:
sounder, love, sister,
Form:
Couplet
After dark I feel
The need to be awake
In the forbidden world
The world that shows
Me my mirror
Of hope, despair, glory
A true story
After dark civilization goes to bed
Primitiveness reigns away
The ugly looks beautiful
And all are in unison
Riches and rags
Virgin to whore
We all go through
The same door
After dark the sun retires
The moon prevails
With a thousand blind eyes
One sees it all
One hears it all
Tomorrow?
Denial
After dark sounds sound
Sounder
Louder
Sharper
The dark darkness
Brighter
After dark emptiness befriends
Intoxicating booze
Lighter spirit
Gently infused
Bottled up emotions
The bottle helps …
To confess
Categories:
sounder, angst, confusion, hate, introspection,
Form:
Free verse
Fears ensnared within the winter drifts along the harden ground
One lone ember stares off yearning for heaven brothers
As I watch its simple battle for survival from dust of ashes gray
To tombs that lie stone in forever twilight slumbers
In my sleepy hollow head like a saddened tune on flute play
I hear further, farther days ahead and think them some great enemy
But, louder are the years which shall follow as if it’s greater dread
So I return to thoughts outward of the plains lullaby instead
Outside the winds lost are moaning singing a sacred song
Warning, crawling like shadows long, carry astral visions rolling in
Caught like prey dancing in the trees by guardian dream catchers
Shamans of the din, their medicine cleansing, sweeping away village sin
The ember grows brighter as I feel the warmth on my Ojibwe people all around
Sounds of the old man elder still breathing, rhythms of the ceremonial drum
Hearst beating over silence of the coming whites waiting to steal away the clouds
And their cold tracks of steel lying like death dividing up the rivers run
Still I listen, to the plains that speak in nightless lullabies
So the cricket’s lie dormant the buffalo’s wintry song is a bolder snore
Like clouds upon the desert floor, beneath the watchful eye of the snowy goddess moon
Ghosts of warriors galloping across the plains looking for their home
So, I call out whispers to them “here we are” adding to the Algonquin tune
Smiling with eyes closing, I watch the ember stronger glowing hearth
Empowered by life, the gift of the Great Spirit, mountain coyote serenading love of light
And mother lays her hand across the plains tucking in all her children of this Earth
With this I sleep sounder for awhile longer
Although, knowing all things must end with death
But, the spirit will live on and on
Across the plains in its lullabying song, like the winter's breath
Categories:
sounder, native american, , Lullaby,
Form:
Ode
He was grizzled, intimidating, the original Viking all in black.
We were fearful, tearful, he was frightened us. We felt lack.
Is he a Viking? A Trojan? A Greek? A devil not clearly seen?
We did not know, so we reported this stranger to our darling queen.
Our queen was not afraid of anything, we had seen this before.
She summoned him to court, but he disappeared, gone forevermore.
We pondered this stranger with blue eyes the rest of our life.
He was a battle of one, scaring us soundly. We all felt the strife.
He was Celtic, a pagan, a man with battle and death on his mind.
He was horrible, a meanie, nothing like our loving sweet kind.
Some said his name was unmentionable, so they would never tell.
One thing for sure, this curious stranger was straight out of hell.
The story of him grew until it could not be contained, alive in the air.
He killed with his bare hands. His ebony coats were made of a bear.
He was a hermit, a rounder, a sounder, a man to be avoided and feared.
We love the stories of him. They are camp fire songs too, many endeared.
Categories:
sounder, myth,
Form:
Rhyme
Racing to Arms
Two parallel scenes come to mind,
Each of a similar yet different kind.
Melanie sees Ashley in” Gone With the Wind,”
Hobbling home from the Civil War, over the glen.
She cannot run fast enough, into his arms.
He runs from his distance to feel her charms.
In the Depression Era, times were moribund,
Worse off for Black people like the Morgans.
Rebecca sees Nathan in the movie” Sounder,”
Hobbling home from prison camp to be around her.
She cannot run fast enough into his arms.
He runs from his distance to feel her charms.
In both scenes there’s urgency in their faces,
With arms opened wide to meet up with embraces.
Love is colorless, ageless, timeless and free.
What a thrill racing to long missed arms must be?
10/1/16
Gone With the Wind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTt927pgoAc
Sounder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulCdv0OMY1U
Categories:
sounder, film, hello, love,
Form:
Rhyme
A Reader Asks
Of the books that you’ve read
Which ones were the best?
Which ones caught your fancy?
Which ones passed your test?
Which ones made you laugh?
Which ones made you cry?
Which ones would you toss?
Which ones would you buy?
How about Little Women
With Joe, Meg and the others,
Or Lord of the Flies
With the twins and the brothers.
How was Gone with the Wind
And Scarlet O’Hara,
Or the Life and the Times
Of the great Yogi Berra.
Remember the girls
In Fried Green Tomatoes,
Or the wizard and Dorothy
And the violent tornadoes.
Great Expectations;
Great Gatsby, Tom Sawyer;
To Kill a Mockingbird;
There’s a great lawyer
Twenty Thousand Leagues
Under the Sea;
The Call of the Wild;
Those were something to me.
The Three Musketeers,
The Count Monte Cristo,
The cold Heart of Darkness,
How long does your list go?
Uncle Tom’s Cabin,
How about Sherlock Holmes,
Oliver Twist,
Or Edgar Allan Poe’s poems.
A Tale of Two Cities;
The great Jungle Book;
The Call of the Wild;
Deserve more than a look.
Last of the Mohicans,
Perhaps Moby Dick,
Then there’s Treasure Island,
Go on, take your pick.
Gulliver’s Travels,
The quaint Scarlet Letter,
A Christmas Carol,
Could you find many better?
The Red Badge of Courage,
Now that was a downer.
Have you read The Prince
Or about the dog “Sounder”?
Those some call classics
But there are so many more;
I love science fiction
Though to some they’re a bore.
CIA thrillers,
A mystery or two;
And sometimes in a pinch
Any old book will do.
I could go on
On the books that I’ve read,
But I’d like to stop here
And hear your list instead.
Categories:
sounder, books,
Form:
Rhyme
Since it was Sunday in late December
the sun perched softly behind a dark
swirl - and the distant dust
turned the last ray from red to pink
well before the dainty fingers
of her small hands could count to six
The tide was ebbing but left lopsided
lines of foam-beige brine surrounding
crooked batons of driftwood settling
for the evening - in wait of the dawn’s
salty brush and the mermaid’s call
that only the mullet could hear
Sandpipers skipped across the scrawls
where some spirited soul had neatly
spelled the name Luna and etched
a lazy heart in the sand
made barely legible by the suckle
of less than a half moon of sweet Gruyere
Holiday lamps from the shops in the village,
baptized by a light steam, lifted green and blue
watermarks off the horizon toward the mangroves
and left markings of indelible ink where crow’s feet
tried to sleep and halfhearted whelk
nestled as salt in recesses of aged eyes
The scent of the sea was mild
Then again just the thing to suit
The keenness of the cilia that lined
the inside of the only nostril that still behaved.
And though the Mumps had left one ear utterly deaf
I observed the pelican call
This was neither the place nor time to breathe meekly.
A wordless titter throttled my throat
and I asked myself how life might be sounder
Her lily white hand, half covered in sand
touched the truss in my mind.
Smiling out loud my deaf ear could hear
her juddering blood - for she was totally (and wonderfully) blind
Categories:
sounder, dream, happiness, life, love,
Form:
Free verse
An hour long nap right after lunch?
I find it helps me quite a bunch!
When sleep is missed the night before,
It matters not if work or play,
A nap is balm to stress of day,
And this is not just metaphor!
A nap is like self-given hug,
That brings a smile back to your mug.
No, don’t discount its healing pow’r,
A servant to your ev’ry plan,
That greases all the wheels of man,
A nap, the hero of the hour!
My father first taught me this art,
Much sounder than dessert or fart,
It puts day’s burdens in their place!
God too took rest at end of week,
Rest is Holy! Hear Him speak!
(For from God’s rest poured Saving Grace.)
Brian Johnston
December 12, 2014
Categories:
sounder, blessing, care, father, god,
Form:
Rhyme
I think about intelligence
And wonder why we think our due
Is sanctioned by our own IQ
That natural inheritance
Compels us by unbending laws
To evolutionary cause
That beggars to irrelevance
The truth that brains can be a threat
That make it easy to forget
The most compelling evidence
That intellect may well provide
A rationale for venal pride
Displacing sounder temperaments
With logical proficiency
Ignoring self-deficiency
And cultivates intolerance
With vanity incredulous
And tidy, hidden prejudice
That blithely leads to negligence
Denying those less capable
In contexts inescapable
I much prefer the elegance
Of caring for the other guy
Of answering a helpless cry
Of principled benevolence
That intellect cannot be taught
Beyond the wit of reasoned thought
I think about intelligence
That natural inheritance
That beggars to irrelevance
The most compelling evidence
Displacing sounder temperaments
And cultivates intolerance
That blithely leads to negligence
I much prefer the elegance
Of principled benevolence
Written July 5, 2018
Categories:
sounder, discrimination, humanity, prejudice,
Form:
Rhyme
Be my soul’s keeper protecting me through the night as I sleep, as I dream.
Stay with me throughout my days.
Watch over me protect me from this crazy place.
Shelter my heart with your silvery wings carry my spirit gently in your keep.
Caress my soul with your loving breath.
Wake me from my weary heart, revitalize my energies light.
Reach down touch me give me the strength to carry on another day.
Help me to see the love that lives within.
Grant me the endurance I need to survive a darkening world.
Look down upon a wandering sprite.
Escort me to a brighter light.
Touch me with a smile.
Lead me to the brave who will be fighting chaos’s advancing enchantments.
Take away the idle minds
Teach me how to stimulate.
Help me to ignite the crusaders hearts.
Allow me to write the voices echoing in my brain.
Let the laughter, the smiles I create help to heal a lonely realm.
Be my soul’s keeper protecting me through the night as I sleep, as I dream.
Stay with me throughout my days.
With your gifts you have granted me, my spirit grows sounder.
My allure beginning to bloom, rays of light can now shine through.
Know in my devoted heart, I will never give up the fight.
Categories:
sounder, faith, endurance,
Form:
Free verse
I have a favourite type of girl,
Nothing wrong with that
I love my ladies ample
Like beautiful Fat pat
Also Porkus Dorcas
And Obese Louise,
Glandular Angela
Gives me a good squeeze
I love voluminous
I love them rounder
I love them full bodied
Because rounder is sounder
Categories:
sounder, funnylove,
Form: