Best Splintery Poems

Over streams
or above deep ravines,
they cling to the earth that supports them.

Having borne years of burdens, their bones are cracking;
the splintery skin of their once-strong arms now rots.
Threatened by footsteps - though few - they groan. . . .

for time is deserting
old bridges.

(Not in a...

Continue reading...

My son is out fixing up the shed.
Winter is coming on. Needed doing he said.
He had the time and the bound-to’s.
I’m not used to this thought process, I’m not. Not from a child.

I watch him for a while.
Opening and closing gates as needed.
The dust, sifted...

Continue reading...

CHRISTMAS EVE

riding the wind
a thousand christmas bells
swirl city corners
custom country steeples
ring round my splintery old pew


in a ponderous quiet
on this hallowed eve
i’m forgetting the dreary
remembering those hundred candles
mother singing oh holy night


christmas eve
no snow
torrents of rain
santa comes round
in a pontoon plane

Dave Austin...

Continue reading...

POSEIDON

Sleep, Lord Poseidon,
Deep, everlasting sleep,
While sailors watch with bated breath.

Old planking creaks –
The pitiable splintering sound –
Old planking creaks.

Old sailor,
Splintery-kneed old sailor,
Keeps his watch,

With ever a thought of life’s futility,
Down deep,
Where dolphins stay.

But Lord Poseidon never sleeps,
And dolphins play….and play.



HERMES

Young wears the winged sandals,
 ...

Continue reading...

Penetrating the window the moonlight casts onto my desk wheyey cream of gleam

Bypassing the door ajar extends afar my reminiscence in wee wisps of waft,

Ferreting out your memo and dusting dog-eared pages before sallow lamp shaft,

I telepathize myself terrifically to wonder whether you are right...

Continue reading...

Sleep, Lord Poseidon,
Deep, everlasting sleep
While sailors watch with bated breath

Old planking creaks -
The pitiable, splintering sound -
Old planking creaks

Old sailor,
Splintery-kneed old sailor,
Keeps his watch

With ever a thought of life's futility,
Down deep,
Where dolphins stay

But Lord Poseidon never sleeps
And dolphins play.....
And play...

Continue reading...

At that hour
 the breeze turns around.
 The fishermen are coming back
 with hands splintery,
 without lips,
 with eyes of stone.
 The bottom is empty
 like a bottle at midnight.
 The shore is there
 where somebody’s waiting.
 They’ve sleept for a long time. Dreaming.
 With...

Continue reading...

How Much Vengeance Is Enough?

By Mark D. Stucky
How much bloody carnage and rubble
is required to atone for sins of a few?
How many eyes must be gouged
to extract desired justice?
If wronged, is exchanging one eye enough?
What about two eyes for one? Or ten for one?
Is twenty...

Continue reading...

THE DESERT THE WILDERNESS THE STORM

I am parched, my back is arched, 
my body racked with pain,
Nothing green in sight, 
my thirst, my plight, 
eyes playing tricks on me again. 

An illusion of rest beside still waters, 
yet can't reach the glimmer on the desert...

Continue reading...

** Summary: A high school boy finds happiness and love in a small, dreary town. Just when it seems like life can't get any better, he discovers that his new love interest may not be telling him everything about herself. As each of her secrets...

Continue reading...

The best I could hope for was a lame or weak animal, 
limping along, not able to catch up with their tribe.
My cubs are hungry, and they like fresh blood meat.
A young antelope or gazelle would be perfect!

As I glance through the African grasses, I...

Continue reading...

A dog
wanders down the road
sniffing
snuffling
head raised
suddenly
alert
to protect
	
    why

*    *    *

A wall
built ten feet high
stone upon stone
brick upon brick
hides the outside

    why

*    *    *

A crack
in the wall
craggy
splintery
light shines...

Continue reading...

You’re watching video reruns
from last summer.
They’re lighting the cauldron, The Games 
return to the home of the gods.
2-minute snips
between commercials: muscles
grasping for a globe.

And then the ads. Somebody’s running 
for something, posing & provocative
under the national anthem.
He says we’re at a crossroads.
Flags & fireworks.
We saw...

Continue reading...

My passion is the happy fervor
That covers and moves the lever
I heard an exciting, silent flaming
To warn me about this mine anxiety
And its eyes have all the flaming
On that day my soul grew arousal
and the brainwaves never zesting
and its eyes have all the flaming
The spree...

Continue reading...

Written: August 31, 2023
______________________________________________________________

Each day the evenings will shorten,
My lawn never got vibrant in my garden.
Life shifts slowly as the sun sets low in the sky,
As summer bids goodbye.

Sunflowers start to hide their faces,
Their vibrant petals are now withdrawn.
No longer basking in the sun's warm...

Continue reading...