Best Squinted Poems
My neck crooked backward,
I stand between the stacks
feeling the weight of centuries,
the distilled wisdom of minds
who graced the earth with golden words,
words that pace the pages -
vellum, parchment, fine and common papers;
words, cordoned in lines, confined,
yet powerful tools to set one free,
a roamer far from home,
across universes,
beyond time's reach.
The light filters through high windows
downward to where I peer with squinted eyes
teasing out a jewel -
a title, an author, an adventure, a friend.
The air is charged,
the static of adventure,
heartfelt journeys of a hundred thousand writers,
their souls etched upon the pages
for ones such as I to stumble upon decades,
centuries later,
dream maps
thought castles,
imaginative quests.
Quietness reigns.
The elements of books -
leather, cloth, paper and ink -
infuse a rich elixir,
a mind expanding potion,
companion to best wine and oldest friendships
seasoned,
mellowed,
treasured.
© Faye Lanham Gibson, August 11, 2015
Categories:
squinted, books, words, writing, universe,
Form:
Free verse
The photos stopped
when you were 10 or 11.
Around that time, you started refusing to
have your pictures taken.
A few candid shots are all I’ve
managed since then.
In them, the look on your face is growing inward,
as a cocoon slowly encloses you in a
translucent mystery,
turning you into a dark silhouette
as you start to construct your
own parallel universe,
in a tug of war with a thousand things
you are just starting to learn the meaning of,
morphing into what the world will know,
what I will, with any luck,
recognize only with squinted eyes
when the cocoon reopens.
For now, I can’t see you.
All I can do is wait.
Categories:
squinted, family, father, growing up,
Form:
Free verse
Peeking through my corner bedroom window
playing hide and seek
the ocean's breath pushes through
the semitransparent white curtains
allowing the sun to shine and smile
upon my half-opened squinted eye.
I close my eyes and try to dream
dream of that night
dream of you and me
that star filled summer sky
laying on a blanket overlooking the sea
that glimmer as I gazed into your eyes
I remember your killer little smile
as we talked of the future
I blushed when you touched my chest
oh how fast my heart did beat
after only one sip of wine
I knew you were going to be mine
and I was going to be all yours
It seems just like yesterday
enjoying a perfect moonlight kiss
you wrapped in my arms
how could one ever forget
now twenty years or so have passed
and I still haven't gotten over you yet
Categories:
squinted, love,
Form:
Free verse
Trembling in the silence of a fresh snowfall, awaiting the struggle of laughter and tears, the beautiful that comes from stars shadowed by flakes so gentle they seem to speak silence into the spirit – like the voice of a vision, preaching peace ~ quote by poet
Secreted beneath the gentle fragments, shivering,
Blown in piles, demanding as January’s piercing light,
Silence caressing the stones, the oaks, the pines,
In glistening reflections, hearts possessed,
By the indigo skies who are burning with grace,
Speckled with sensations, amazement –
Sweltering in the 12 degree rays, where moments
Tend to breath in the crispness and release brilliance,
In waves, wisdom from the hunger
Ravenous appetites, awaiting the colors of light,
Friendly aromas of souls, newly blooming,
Emitting sounds that go on, unnoticed, echoes,
Vibrations trembling in soothing sighs…
Melodious blessings, ranging from hearts to insights,
Lifting the nights on wings of angels,
Promising the heavens to release the broken hearts,
Send comfort to the earth in the form of snow,
Who breathes a quiet truth, silence…
Beaming from the tender scales, shavings of ice,
Glittery and crisp, crumbling into moments,
When the laughing sun kisses the blanketed ridges,
Stirring the scene so that only the blurry vision,
Squinted from eyes who remember –
On the snow covered land there is plenty to glimpse,
But only the blinded eyes can truly remember,
How the sparkling snow seemed to shudder and shake,
In silence… deciding just how significant
How consuming is the silence of a shadow,
Reflected on the land whose bathed in fresh white,
The frosty sheen of hope breathing its lasting glance,
Over the peaceful promise of this kind and graceful spectacle,
Commotion in brilliance, awakening the spirit,
With a wonderful white home where the fires crack,
Popping so that even the wood can feel the flames traveling,
Deep into the bones, risking tragedy…
To be lauded by the sensations of Winter’s amazing,
Winter chasing the dreams, the belief, the faded hope…
For those silhouettes who follow the moon,
Ride the stars and twinkle like the deathlike grief,
Who arranges for even the darkness to be plucked from the earth,
By the fresh fallen flurries who break away the brittle,
Soothing souls so that they’re sanctified by the sentimental.
Categories:
squinted, appreciation, beautiful, january, peace,
Form:
Verse
With wistful EYES I watched him RISE; the dawning sun
Aloft, he TREAD, golden wings SPREAD, and day had begun
Above the GLADE, he was robed in a SHADE of palest pink
I wrote a RHYME before the drying TIME of my indigo ink
My eyes SQUINTED to skies blue TINTED, I watched him soar
Eager to ABSORB the heat of the ORB, he warmed every pore
With my need SATED, I was ELATED and stood quietly in place
Cheeks of peach BLUSH, the sun's BRUSH painted on my face
Then he DISAPPEARED, and as I FEARED, grey clouds hovered
I was FILLED with remorse, and CHILLED once he was covered
I called to the WIND and he THINNED the dark overcast skies
So I could BEHOLD the sun of GOLD before tears filled my eyes
Call it a WHIM, but I must search for HIM throughout the day
Across MEADOWS, I live in SHADOWS; my life in sad disarray
until his vibrant LIGHT is within my SIGHT, I dwell in sadness
But when his rays BEAM at me, I SEEM suffused with gladness
As twilight BLOOMED, I was CONSUMED with apprehension
I could not PREVENT the sun's DESCENT nor quell my tension
Tonight I BELIEVE I will GRIEVE until he rises again at dawn
When I will GREET his SWEET warmth, shining upon my lawn.
I cannot EXPLAIN the depth of PAIN I feel when he is asleep
It's a VAGUE mystery; but a PLAGUE that causes me to weep
I CONFESSED that I'm OBSESSED; under a spell or incantation
Tell me FRIEND, do I DEFEND or END my sunlight infatuation
November 7, 2020
Joseph May's In Rhymes Sublime Contest
Categories:
squinted, feelings, sun,
Form:
Rhyme
Daybreak in a foreign land
Sights so bright
Drenched in history
The sun sparkling through the morning mist
Vision blurred by squinted eyes
A silhouette draping a wooden bench
The baby sparrow hungrily cries
Walk right past she looks at me
Was she the one from my dream
I stare right back to let her know
Our two eyes lock, there is a gleam
Oh vision bright and beautiful
Come take my hand and walk with me
A journey we both do need
Turn around and comfort me
Categories:
squinted, beauty, dream,
Form:
Free verse
A field trip to the new History Museum sounded like fun.
We boarded the bus as soon as the school day had begun.
I was excited, thinking seeing dinosaurs would be as cool
as Jurassic Park movies where the scary T Rex held rule.
I wandered off after eating lunch, looking for a bathroom
but the head I found was crowned with an orange plume.
I screamed! It squawked, and beady eyes stared at me.
Unable to move, I closed my eyes tight, so I wouldn't see.
I felt its warm breath on my neck and heard its wings flap.
My first instinct was to run, but I really needed to crap.
Sharp claws scratched the skin on my arms and my back,
then it screeched with a fiery roar that burned my backpack.
I fell to the ground, hoping it would think that I was dead
but I squinted enough to see the orange plume on its head.
It circled me twice, then flew away. To where, I didn't care
because I was alive, although it had scorched all of my hair.
No one believed my story, not even Mr. Tom, my teacher.
He said dinosaurs are extinct and I didn't see such a creature,
then rolled his eyes at me and I think he nearly went beserk
when I said, "and then a flaming pterodactyl ate my homework!"
January 29,2021
...and then a flaming pterodactyl ate my homework contest
Sponsored by: John Lawless
Categories:
squinted, environment, humorous,
Form:
Rhyme
The unknown pulchritude of my fun-loving, in-your-face cousin crashed down on me.
In an unexpected revelation, inspired by others, without any conscious warning.
When eight of my preteen friends began preening in front of him, unabashed, all eight swarming.
They were sucking in their tummies, and pushing out their chests right in front of him and me.
He had become at paragon of handsomeness , causing me discomfort, just a bit.
You must adore him! He has so much charisma! He is an Adonis! One said loud and clear.
I squinted my eyes, trying to figure out my new cousin in his 14th year.
He was practically smoldering, his brown eyes blazing, a party favorite, the confirmed “hit”.
Written on July 13, 2018
Entered into Laura Loo's Rhyme Time Lucky 8 Contest
Categories:
squinted, teen love, teenage,
Form:
Rhyme
A Quiet Conversation In Church
Someone behind me stifled a cough
Turning around, the stranger nodded back
In the dim light
I made out a determined jaw
Felt thick fingers holding on to the back of my pew
I’ve been coming here for years he said
During weekday afternoons
When the Church is empty.
I pray in the quiet
And find peacefulness
That never stops.
From it I get strength, a resolve to go on.
Pausing he asked I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here?
I answered as best I could
I pass by here every day
And I thought it was time for me to come in.
He answered
Yes, strength and resolve are important.
But they come from the inside. No one gives them to you.
I had some issues but I knew I couldn’t hide in a bottle
And so, I came back to the Church on my own terms.
Still in the shadows
He whispered
I’m a veteran
The government will give vets pills to help them forget their problems.
The Church?
They try in their own way and when you die, they’ll say a prayer over you
But your family is the only one you can rightfully turn to for help.
I told the stranger
We were new to the City
That was so crowded and expensive.
We parted but not before he said
When you find someone
Open your heart and trust them.
Outside, my eyes squinted
In the suddenness of sunlight
Signs of Spring
Were everywhere
My cell phone rang
Her excited voice telling me that she got the job
She always wanted
Finally, things were going her way
I told her
We’ll celebrate
Go to the place you always wanted to go
In her breathless voice she answered
It’s so expensive
What else is new I replied
We’re going because this is special
Because you didn’t give up
You made it happen.
And then I realized the old man was right.
Categories:
squinted, life,
Form:
Narrative
There is a View
There is a view, slightly obscured,
by tilted head and squinted eyes
sad hazy tint of things abhorred
tears unshed when a flower dies
long shadows cast
on future’s past.
Grief’s sight will clear, it’s heart endure
high in the scented pines faint cries
incite the frozen hawk, restore
dead gaze, unfurl bold wings, arise
feathers estranged
by winds of change.
©2/12/2018submitted to – Rhyme Me A Posie – Poetry Contest
sponsor – Broken Wings
Categories:
squinted, grief, moving on, strength,
Form:
Rhyme
Relishing a dream of voyage;
though the sky lit by the glory of rays,
my eyes squinted at the ray
fluttering my lashes says,
not now,don't wake me now.
Impeccable sunlight splattering
on to the window
making a tiny purslane buds to grow.
In a fantasy,I say,
not now,don't wake me now.
Beads of morning dew sets humbly
on my pristine pink roses
and haughty dew on the edge of the leaf
filling in a light from the sunbeam.
Be-worried to dispel from cloud-land,I say
not now,don't wake me now.
Am exploring the vault of heaven
loosing myself from within
under the blanket of murky rain.
Then heard a crooning songs buzzing into my ear
wakes me recalling the tangled memories of cheer.
Plunged into a new day with smiling eyes
and with a prayer of good angels of heights.
Written by,
Rekha Antony
Throwback February 2020
Modified to refrain form
Categories:
squinted, dream, fantasy, good morning,
Form:
Rhyme
They say ...
That babies don't smile
You were SO big when you were born - 11lbs 3ozs
And being VBAC, you had been through a lot in the birth canal
So you looked like a prize fighter after a heavyweight bout
Red and purple and bruised-looking, eyes squinted
You made no sounds, though ...
No crying or newborn complaints of any kind
You were as calm and peaceful as if you'd done it a hundred times
Like it was just another "first day of life"
They weighed you, cleaned you up
And then gave you to me to hold for the first time
They say babies don't smile
But you did ... oh, you certainly did
You opened your eyes and looked in mine
And smiled ... a lasting smile
Not a twisted cry or gas or mistaken expression
A true smile ... handsome, sweet, rugged
And I knew then you were special, very special
I knew then that I had witnessed ...
A miracle.
Categories:
squinted, birth, child, father son,
Form:
Free verse
It was 3:00am when I got the call. The call that I’ve been dreading. The call we’ve all been dreading. The Narcan didn’t work this time and you were on your way to the hospital. I got in my car, sick to my stomach, because I knew what would be waiting for me when I got there. Yet, somehow, all at once I hoped they had revived you. I mean you’ve survived this before right? Surely you could make it. Surely you’d have at least one more chance to fight the monster you’ve been facing. Even as they take me to the back room and I know then that you’re dead, I wait for the doctor to tell me that I’m wrong.
He never does.
Then it’s time to see you. You look like you, but empty. I suppose that it makes sense. As I stand there I start to notice all the things you’re missing:
A smile so big your eyes are almost shut.
The color in your cheeks.
Warmth radiating from your skin.
The laugh that made me smile.
The voice that brought me comfort.
The words that gave me peace.
But that’s when it hit me: You were missing something else.
That monster you died fighting, you’d be happy to hear that he died too.
The eyes that squinted when you smiled were no longer laced with pain.
There was no quiver in your voice, no turmoil, no shame.
I couldn’t see the tired face from all the nights your mind denied you peace.
There were no protests from your lips when I told you everything would be okay.
I couldn’t hear a single thing.
Though selfishly I’d take you back just the way you were, quiet’s all you’ve ever wanted, friend. You’ve finally been heard.
Categories:
squinted, abuse, addiction, death,
Form:
Free verse
Christmas of my tenth year brought a four-ten shotgun.
No longer a tag-along kid
Assaulting the deep drifts struggling to keep up,
But a real hunting buddy.
First rule was to memorize the ten commandments of gun safety.
I labored with those rules.
Would we ever really go hunting?
We would go to the sand pits for target practice.
I could shoot good.
Then began lessons to drive.
Not really drive, but just as Daddy showed me,
I would, with exaggerated movements, put the car in forward,
Then reverse, and move it back and forth a few feet.
Stretching my spine to its straightest to see over the wheel,
And my toes to their longest to reach the clutch and break.
The makings of very heady stuff for such a little person to control a great monster
car.
I drove great adventures in those back and forth few feet.
I didn’t really comprehend what he meant
When he told me I might be the only one
To drive for help in case of an accident.
So I learned, and loved the driving too.
It made me more and more my daddy’s boy,
And more and more impatient for the day to come.
The car mastered,
We headed home from the sand pits.
The day was gray and damp and promising snow.
The car heater blasting back the cold.
Cheeks stinging with color,
I would finally, slowly, pull from memory each word of each rule,
Adding a definition in my own ten year old words.
With ear crushed to my bedroom door,
I strained with every fiber to hear Daddy’s muffled tones.
He told Mom he was going hunting in the morning.
Then with breath caught up in lungs so tense they hurt,
Eyes squinted so closed it forced a tear,
Just as if I made it happen, he added,
“I’ll be taking Judy.”
Categories:
squinted, adventure, childhood, life, nostalgia,
Form:
Free verse
We lived in shoeboxes
Where the full moon didn’t show
Jerked beneath blankets and the night
Waiting for the snow.
Mother sewed for coins
Through squinted eyes, blind tears
When she slept we added more stitches
Embroidered in our fears.
It was always winter
In our tile of world caught in the pane
We taught the babies how to pray
The stories kept us sane.
One day the stitching stopped
Why was she crying, we didn’t know
I cannot see. She could not see
So we waited for the snow.
2010.10.
Categories:
squinted, childhood, dedication, family, mother,
Form:
Rhyme