Best Spirited Poems
(1.)
From Dawn's Spirited Breath, See Red, Red Rose
When Summer rose meets dawning's sweetest hush
Sun comes to bequeath its dawn bathing rays
Red beauty gleaming, rose stills early rush
Into man's world shines, another bright day.
With red rose petals spreading ever wide
Calming thoughts, heavenly blue ocean waves
One may from duty or play thus decide
No plucking, to rose's truest of beauty save.
Within Nature's truth, rests a native song
Of wanderings some lost souls have traveled
In desperate search for truth to belong
Hope, such tapestry, can be unraveled.
From Dawn's spirited breath, they see red rose.
And wonder why its color, Nature chose.
Robert J. Lindley,
Sonnet, Rhyme, ( To Gaze In Awe At Red Rose Radiant Colors )
(2.)
Red Rose, Sing Me A Sweeter Melody
Alas! Flowers winter breath soon must feel
Frigid wind, that fierce and dastardly blows
Pray I, mildest winter, on knees I kneel
Begging for Spring, when fantastic green shows.
Red rose, sing me a sweeter melody
Of paradise that hold Spring all the year
Casting winter's fangs into darkest sea
Allaying this man's dreaded icy fears.
Shall I, for deepest beauty thus reward
A plastic cover to thy life extend
For here blasting winter chill 'tis so hard
Harsh reality, let us not pretend!
Red rose, thy bright song must for a time end.
Solemn vow held as, magnificent friend!
Robert J. Lindley,
Sonnet, Rhyme, ( Red Rose, To Admiring Heart, Thy Truest Song Sing )
(3.)
Then Red Rose Blushed Its Petals Brightest Red
Songbirds to red rose, thy colors cry out
Bestow thy harmonious songs as gifts
We sing melodies while flying about
Hoping thy red souls it truly uplifts.
Red rose, songbirds assuredly you know
In my soft flowerbeds I welcome thee
In Mother earth's soil I happily grow
With pleasure serve her busy honey-bee.
Listen Mother Nature so softly said
Birds to you, I giveth earth and blue sky
To red rose I gift my fine virgin beds
None but blinded man would be asking why!
Then red rose blushed its petals brightest red
Proving to all, truth Mother Nature said!
Robert J. Lindley, 11-27-2019
Sonnet, Rhyme, ( Red Rose, Songbirds, Mother, Nature- A Conversation )
I am in very good mood!
big wolves are coming
rats and mouses be aware
free spirited wolves
I remember, not long after we met,
playing the parts of free-spirited hearts,
adlibbing lines without rehearsing.
Absurd as it sounds, 'twas quite profound
that tensile strength of our tapestry threads
became so quickly woven together...
without eyes meeting nor voices heard.
We meshed as if delightfully dancing,
swaying like palms in a balmy breeze.
Our steps were always in perfect sync.
We were Fred and Ginger, turquoise and silver,
Darcy and Elizabeth without pride and prejudice.
I imagined his touch and kisses with bated breath
until the day he went away... emotionally.
In realms where daylight and darkness merge,
that shadowed place where docile dreams
and nefarious nightmares converge,
he was lost to me... Love's tragedy.
Our Utopian haven became a dystopian desert,
a desolate domain where stoic silence rules
over fools who choose to hold on to hope.
The nib of a pen, his tool of seduction
His dark verses seduced my hungry soul
and lighthearted lyrics were welcomed humor.
I sighed over his poetic rhymes of garden roses.
I suppose the fault was as much mine as his
for flirtation came easily in moments of desire.
My heart yielded without repent to be with him
and longed to smell the scent of his garden beds..
‘Twas more than a mere whim
My yearning burned for him like wildfire.
Suddenly, his flame was extinguished
as if what we'd shared had never been.
I had become addicted to his alchemy.
Combustibly enamored with explosive thoughts
because my greed and indulgent need of him
no longer fed my famished heart.
I was a prisoner of emotion, tangled within his web
of silken threads, longing once more to feel
his passionate embrace, but no trace of him was left.
What we vowed we felt was intoxicating.
I wanted him to make me that part of him
that didn't allow him to breathe without me...
but it was not to be.
I savor what we shared; that aching aura of love.
The months we dared expose our hearts.
I reread his poems and think of them as elegies ~
memories that may one day fade away
like sad melodies of haunting love songs
that unearth melancholy on dark, dreary days.
The Priest with Spirited Eyes
Heart sees tender giving in those spirited eyes,-
Shared love given to those with great need!
Comforting hearts that hurt but don't bleed,
With love spent in helping as precious time flies
Your healing gently washes away so many lies,
Mercy prevails as you plant that seed;-
Heart sees tender giving in those spirited eyes,
Shared love given to those with great need!
As welcomed as are rain clouds in desert skies
Healing those victims with kindness and speed!
Hearts mended, imprisoned Souls quickly freed,
With tender mercies prevailing and joy in the cries,
Heart sees tender giving in those spirited eyes.
Robert J. Lindley, 07/13/2014
Sponsor Debbie Guzzi
Contest Name - Random Acts of Kindness
Rondel
A French form consisting of 13 lines: two quatrains and a quintet,
rhyming as follows: ABba abAB abbaA. The capital letters are the
refrains, or repeats.
I was a mean-spirited, remorseless boy
when it came to get revenge
with the boldest outrage...
Joey never suspected foul play from me!
We were the cruelest classmates,
bullying on the weak and skinny ones;
emptying out their pockets and confiscate
their money as if we were the Internal Revenue...
where would we get that without another avenue?
We looked at them laughing, but our laughter was deliberate!
A question remained, " Who was going to be the treasurer? "
Joey stared at me with envy trying to say, " It's me! "
I stared at him in the same way wishing it were me!
" Andy, let me handle the treasure since I like math! "
And with confidence he promised, " Not a dime will be missing! "
" I have to trust you on that, Joey...you talk silly! "
But he shouted, " You couldn't keep a secret!
Your mom will wonder where you've gotten all that money, thinking
you have done something stupid and illegal like robbing or stealing! "
" Okay, " I snarled, " You got your wish...you grizzly bear! "
Morning came as I plotted against him planning every step
with astuteness, " My plan can't fail! " I told myself...
Joey came running to me as a runner in a marathon,"
" Where did you get those Fila sneakers and Perry America jacket? "
" My dad bought me those...he wanted to reward for my good grades! "
" You cheating, bastard...if it weren't for me, you would fail them all! "
" We are supposed to give the money back to those poor kids! "
I shouted with a vexed voice...but he replied laughing, " No, I never will, punk! "
It was a week before graduation, we took the final test,
how much I wanted Joey to feel the stamina of my wrist
by remembering what he did with the stolen money!
The air in the classroom was as solemn as a church's silence,
Joey sat next to me and copied the answers as I checked them them in each box.
" Fool, you are going to fail this test...this is my revenge! " I uttered...
" What was that? " The wrong answer? " He asked me without malice.
" Yes, change it to All Of The Above " I answered confidentially.
Many more wrong answers I gave him until I put my pencil down and sighed.
" Thanks, Andy for the answers...I hate summer school: you are simply the best! "
spirited rope
of two anchored souls
love knot...at sea
04.25.18
1st place
Haiku -Human Nature
hosted by M. Talbot
05.24.18
fog's fingertips creep
moon silently cackles, grins...
soft glow on blackness
twisted trees moan, creak
pumpkins' wrinkles choke, dig deep...
lit up distortions
shuffling, shifting steps
spirited procession, screams...
smiles flash, trick or treat!
*** Sept. 9 2010
for Linda-Marie's Halloween haiku contest :)
love
worship
and prayer-
the heart beat of
faith
Sooth my withered soul,
Rush in waters bitter pill
pump my blood till it's too full to fill;
Briefly lust warmed my tattered heart...
Covered bones disguised in robes
of colored gems and displaced art;
Wash away the cold dead air
of a clowns bold stare...
Standing naked
In the white glare of a staged nightmare..
As almond eyes sigh a cry to deadened skies;
Bow my head in sightless sound on storied grounds
retreating from the lie my spirit hasn't .. just..yet..died .
Like the limpet clings
to the survival thing
then hear as the warbled Thrush sings
the new dawning's to bring
On fig appears
fruiting buds to bear
before the leaf's itself rears,
proves the fruit is the flower rare
Close to the ground
are strawberries found
it's seeds are to it's body bound
leaving the berry whole and sound
Or the banana's lofty fronds
with fruiting flower shimmering bronze
it's roots and stem a fibrous sponge
a massive giant herbal applause
But where will you find in this wide world
or in the galaxy's perpetual swirl
anything so mighty and bold
as the glorious immortal spirited soul.
Journeying to the center
Of myself
In search of what I am
Versus what I've felt
When the sky melts
I'll keep soaring through
The molten elements
Telepathic fellowship
Makes timeless truths relevant
The faithful future settles it
A healing prescence
In a world of pestilence
Provide mindless tribes
With intelligence
The ostrich seeks negligence
But excellence is just the beginning
A perfect lost is adjustment to winning
I'm spirited
I cherish it until I perish
Reappearing near the cherubim
Held staffs where Pharoahs sit
Divorce is not a topic worth marrying
I'm spirited
Through the mist of agony
I see him growing
Its like a bloom in a desert,
The seeds of success are sowing
He defied the devil
Made his way through pitch black darkness
He hid his pain in a grave somewhere,
But his face bears no hardness
He was abused and subdued
People inflicted so much pain on him
He was caged and ruthlessly bruised,
And through that despair he learned to swim
Sorrows suppressed him to such an extent
He grabbed his pillows and walked far away
He sacrificed the bliss of sleep and took a longer road,
One that beholds his destination but no place to stay
The desperation and dejection still squeezed his heart
The are like thousand needles pressed against his flesh
He has crushed so many memories behind that face,
His eyes are still radiant and fresh
He has dreams to fulfill
He will be the winner in this struggle
He shall conquer the throne,
And his oponents will be crumbled
His soul is like an exuberant lamp
It always glows like a hope
It enlightens for others to see through darkness,
He's an angel who lends your heart a rope
No matter how unfortunate life gets
He knows his directions very well
He has no support,no one to hold,
But that's how he'll discover himself
"SPIRITED GIBBERISH"
Curtained eyes droop, closing, cleansing, visions. Feathering sunlight. Splintering waked-vivid lashes dreaming of the day. Eyes concealing retreat from here, to there, to what once was, weightless pestilence, plumy blights. Wind-born, am I, are you, are they? They are all, that is, this day, until then. The here-after, the eternal, evermore, ceasing to end.
The sun’s high noon burn, midday life delighting indulgent nectar and poisons and berries, and hostile hide-outs. All, always, prayerful for sanctuary, pursuing salvation. Knowing nothing of a savior. Beasts entrusting the young to the wilds, wild-things, a wild thing-god, a thing, God, a god child, God’s child, in the middle dreaming wild.
Dusk sets the night, pyres for light. Chilling the fragile coos of fragile new marrow. Soothing-long, longing for soothing. Behold, a sooth-sayer begotten in the latter, an elder, lending cryptic scribbles, scrawling epistles. Enchant the ebon skies, dreams besotted by the corrupt, beyond the pale.
Prayers grasp at lucid kindles, sparking beacons, praise-dragged undertow. This display, playing age long into the moon-lit hours, into the starry night, night’s day, daydreaming. Dreams laying in waste, shouldering boasts, flanking fears. Pray, next for the embers to brighten the eyes sinking into the face of the darkness, shining light as we sleep.
Spirited Love
Touch me thy fingers awaken my spirit,
like fire that’s wild my body it spreads,
through magical touch of passion alive,
my heart strings are tensioned harmonious tunes.
So nurtured in rhythm of blood flowing beats,
inspired with moments of beauty serene,
revitalised thoughts a paradise find,
sensual the fruits of love us remind
in streams of sunbeams inviting
my face to turn upwards
I am captured by intangible senses of
nutmeg and cinnamon communion-
candy-coated moments blossoming
As the wizard of memories wakes a dream
speechless and smiling
standing and body turning with movement
I am drawn onto the shag carpet
of blades sprouting green lightheartedness
tickling the soles of my feet
unabashedly bare
naked on an aimless path
shuffling gaited rhythms of a waltz step
striking with carefree muted thuds
on the squishy sod
jumping-running-skipping…
lifting ever higher-a freedom
that only children know
visitors from the ghosts of my youth
appear from the mettle of my core
singing, talking and laughing
each lyric echoing unrestrained
their haunting chimes pasted
in a basket of blue skies painted
with art of clouds
colored like vague stranded souvenirs-
a pictorial imbued across the horizon
a stage-play of our backyard friendships
step-by-step twirling-arms swinging-round
bare feet colliding with smiles
and I…..with great laughter...
I danced with them all!
November 2, 2022
This or That Vol 14 Poetry Contest
Renascence
Sponsored by Edward Ibeh