Best Starry Poems
Like no one before, nor since
you painted that starry night in oils
superimposing your life story.
I feel I know this idyllic village
blanketed by tranquil rolling hills
embraced by calming olive trees
their very branches a symbol of peace
the steadfast church steeple
a sacred echo of the stalwart cypress.
But never have I witnessed
hills so inflamed - burning to tell the world their history
a moon so agitated - suffering from an incurable insanity
the night sky so frenzied - seeking answers to life's suffering
such undulating indigo eddies of despondency and confusion
or stars radiating with such feverish beauty - concentric circles of passion.
That starry night
you painted stars that, like you, are light years away from anyone else
looking on the serene village scene from an insurmountable distance
for you saw things, Vincent,
like no one before, nor since.
[free verse ekphrasis of the painting "The Starry Night" by Vincent Van Gogh]
Written 5 Jul 2020
Categories:
starry, art, depression, night, passion,
Form:
Ekphrasis
STARRY, STARRY NIGHT
I often look up towards the sky at night,
And wonder who or what is there,
I shout out loud, if you see or hear me, I love you,
I do this every night, the starry sky, an absolute delight!
I drive out of the city to the Kruger Park,
There, not only am I close to nature and serenity,
But to the universe, I look up, no pollution,
I stretch my arms up high, excited, it is very dark!
No street lights, or cars headlights, or any noise,
The moon is so bright and full, it smiles at me,
Quite rare, for normally the moon looks a little sullen,
The stars, I’ve lost count, as they twinkle with such poise!
The Milky Way so clear, I feel I want to reach up high,
As it allures me, and weaves across the sky,
Milky, so graceful and silent, as it, and I watch
Sparkling stars, and planets rotating, unknown
To mankind, yet to be discovered in our eternal
Galaxy to which I want to fly!
Our universe has constellations of stars, named mostly
After mythology’s gods, who beckon, tempt and wink
And entice me, but I am on planet earth, how near
Could I reach this flamboyant display, body, soul
And mind, holistically!
So maybe if I look up into our never ending
Sky at night,
And wish upon one star, with imagination
That runs rampant,
I will see above and far beyond with breathless anticipation,
What I could never imagine, an explosion that blinds me,
An aura, translucently bright!
Categories:
starry, night, stars, universe,
Form:
Free verse
My eyes cry for
fuschia glimmer on
indigo waves again,
but all I see are
haunting hues
of black sequin
glittered epitaphs;
reflections of hollow
clouds enveloping cold air;
building tension
within my heavy heart.
I am surfing alone,
watching the life
of iron-grey cotton bows
swerve in
cashmere cadence,
whilst wiping away
smudged remnants
of shallow tears,
wishing that I could
obscure pain
with poetic phrases,
inked in cyan liquid,
as I weave charismatic
colors of sunrise,
perfumed with
redolence of roses,
to feel the heat,
as poetry spills
potions of sagacious
thoughts onto the saline
canvas of stolen
sapphire dreams.
But there in the
labyrinth of
an ice-green lagoon,
I’ve built a castle
beneath pellucid
salt waters,
a warm home where
every mysterious
metaphor written
for the honey-winged moon
turns into
crystal clear rhymes,
sewn from a blistering
poem of the ocean,
resting within a
glistening glass bottle,
awaiting to be
read and spoken.
So, today I’ll swim through
aesthetic torrents of torment,
Listen to the rhythmic
tunes of raging tides
within trembling silence,
as elements of truth
eventually resurface
from the depths
of turquoise topaz,
to set on the
porcelain horizon
where shorelines
shimmer from mulberry
shells and tantalizing
tulips twirling
beneath twinkling twilight,
for faith resides in the
arms of starry skies.
Someday, you’ll see past
the crimson curtain
of faux carnations
that clipped these
paper wings into
shapes of broken lines.
Categories:
starry, emotions,
Form:
Free verse
A Van Gogh's "Starry Night"
gamboge moon and stars
dance haloed whirlwind marriage
in violet sky
while black cypress looms
past swirling clouds as fleeting
requiem for love
through bright starry eyes
secluded heart still searches
unrequited.
©deborah burch
07/11/2012
Categories:
starry, allegory, art, lost love,
Form:
Haiku
Eyes dazed I stroll and quiver low, enticed
In liquid skyline’s twirl, a slow ballet
to pirouette on fireglows that ignite.
The meadow gleaming near as winds invite
An April centerstage that glides away
eyes dazed I stroll and quiver low, enticed.
And high above the robins wheel their plight
Where garland of stars drips as if to play
to pirouette on fireglows that ignite.
Drunk, hungry this breath, so far the height
where scent of dreams, bursts forth in warm display
eyes dazed I stroll and quiver low, enticed
Small twinklers crown my head to wrap and slay
each heaving sigh embroidering this day,
to pirouette on fireglows that ignite.
As wishful thoughts catch stardust of the night
the firmanent climbs inside earthen clay.
Eyes dazed I stroll and quiver low, enticed
to pirouette on fireglows that ignite.
Villanelles and Terzanelles Only
Shadow Hamilton's Contest
7/27/2013
Categories:
starry, mystery, stars,
Form:
Villanelle
his gaze -
starry night sky's
soft rays.
her face
caught the night light,
such grace!
hearts tossed,
perched on the stars -
words lost ....
hija de la luna
11.29.14
for nette onclaud's "whispers of a muse" contest
Categories:
starry, love, nature, night, sky,
Form:
Verse
The sky is dark blue this dreamy night,
and in the vast canopy only one star is winking;
it beckons to my soul so I reach out with my finger,
and magically stars are sprinkling and sinking.
Like a waterfall of lights they swirl, twirl and dance,
I am taken up in a whirlwind of bliss and delight;
then I find myself in a lush enchanted forest,
then, on a beautiful unicorn horse I fly the night.
And I ride this ethereal creature all the night long,
over streams flowing and forests and valleys green;
to stunning hidden places and wondrous cities,
but sadly, it is dawn and I must leave this scene.
_________________________
May 27, 2018 (Edit from
December 17, 2015)
For the contest, Theme #1 Stars, sponsor, Skat
Ninth Place
Categories:
starry, stars,
Form:
Quatrain
life forces in night skies
winds that howl in blue whimsy
gods blowing midnight stars about
stirring brews of celestial harmony
unrehearsed they swirl and whirl
churning turbulence in a vignette
perform their euphony of a ballet
volatile they cavort and pirouette
tossing around their glitter
spinning in a dance
wild commotion
in my mind
of curious
furious
fever
submitted on June 2, 2020 for contest SPLASH sponsored by KAI MICHAEL NEUMANN - RANKED 1ST
Categories:
starry, art, fantasy, night, stars,
Form:
Free verse
"over the waters blue the night winds sigh, the breakers roar ... Lord Byron
My love, we'll meet at eight as we agreed,
A storm was near, the lighthouse sent its flash.
Would be our lovely tryst that end of day
To mark the start of our great happy love.
By then we hoped would be a night so bright,
The blushing, crimson moon was then so high.
The blue rough seas upon the breaking rocks
And sing to us a euphonious tune.
Together we will wait for stars to rise,
Where mesmerizing fireflies dance in tune,
This may be our last real chance to love
To celebrate midsummer's fun and joy,
In love, we'll hug and kiss and be like one.
Yet you kept not our sweet love rendezvous.
In vain I waited, life began to change.
The wind grew slow in its intensity,
Clouds gathered ominously o'er the place.
The thunder rumbled; lightning was above
Flew here and there above the angry seas.
My love was nowhere in my heart, for now
The storms were raging on the rolling sea
And on the ocean of regret. All's lost!
But then, a crack in clouds appears anew
And she appears all drenched but full of joy.
The night winds blow serene with sighs of warmth.
Our hearts entwine with love and bliss romance,
We will be married soon, our love so true.
Placed 1st
Categories:
starry, love, night, storm, wind,
Form:
Blank verse
Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”
gamboge moon and stars
dance haloed whirlwind marriage
in violet sky
lemon-greens and greys
calm sleeping childhood mem’rys
beneath white steeple
as black cypress looms
past swirling clouds like fleeting
requiem for love.
deborah burch
07/10/2012©
Categories:
starry, allegory, art, lost love,
Form:
Haiku
In my hand an empty pack of camel crushes... I smoked them all.
All the pacing from the stress has beat the pavement raw.
Anger from the moments of my son I never saw.
I'm so gone.
Because I've been holding it in for way too long.
And hashtag to my haters,I will spray you all away if you try to stop me from getting my hustle on.
And I'm not Kirsten Dunst but suckas bring it on.
I'm praying that the whole world pays attention to this song.
See snow the product did it first, but see this best it spoke to me.
And said "you could write a story on how rough your life could be.
And with every verse you spit, more haters get frikazied.
That's when motivation kicked in and I began to believe.
I'll show the population that my ryhmes are mega rad.
And show the child courts I can be a good dad.
And make for certain that I get to make my baby mama mad.
Because every brother out of Gary really ain't bad.
Determined dad.
Categories:
starry, child, dad, dedication, father,
Form:
Rhyme
Time moves on forward fast,
Like rapids hurtling unheedingly headlong
Towards a sheer deep cascade,
And plummet down below in a mighty roar
To flow relentlessly towards the infinite sea
Drifting straight into eternal oblivion.
Yet time can ne'er erase all memories,
And special ones will always linger
In the obscure corridors of my mind.
Hence I can never forget my dear,
The night that we first met.
Were not that night the stars conspiring
To throw a luminous light on our love?
Did not the twinkling stars shoot out their ways
In the clear expanse of nightly sky?
There under a lonely carob tree,
Where dry old leaves crackled
Under our woollen spreads,
You smiled graciously at me
And suddenly I knew
How eager was I for a love so true.
We were like two of those gems above,
Shooting their way across the skies.
And fate decreed that those two stars should meet
In an astral collision and fuse into a lasting blast.
Light sparkled above sublimely
An ethereal fireworks display,
That lasted for one long memorable moment,
But the light in our love will last
Until the end of our days.
Categories:
starry, love, stars,
Form:
Free verse
Love forever eludes me perhaps because it flies on angelic wings
And yet my earth bound body is beneath the weight of gravity
Its like following a rainbow to an end I'll never see
Or like chasing the horizon as it falls away from me
Will I ever find that pot of gold and embrace a warm sunset
With my heart on sandy shores beneath a sky I won't forget
To become envious of the moon as it illuminates her face
Gently dancing across her skin as it adorns with utter grace
Then inhale the scent of beauty as her lips press next to mine
As I watch the midnight sky reflect inside her radiant eyes
and in her starry shade
Of dim and solitary loveliness
I learn’d the language of another world
That I found deeply within one kiss
~ JJF ~
Delphinus stars
~Lord Byrons Manfred~
Categories:
starry, beach, beautiful, love, night,
Form:
Free verse
Starry skies over Damascus
Like a star chart for the
bomber pilots eating
Milky Ways and lives
Chocolate in the desert
for desert in consumption
The poem could stop here
its pretty clear not pretty
Petty lives perambulating
hiding hobbling around
on what was their feet
foundations souls and
is their ruin's wreckage now
The planes feature logos
“Just do it”
“Whiter than white”
“Put the tiger in the tank”
“Eat confectionary be happy”
What an advertising space
for the daily news rounded
up like the refugees
refusing to be refuse
“Powered by democracy”
“Fuelled by share holdings”
“Rocket launches for a better world”
in the weeping nights and days
lactating for another holiday
of some on sunny beaches
oozing oil wells wealth
and inequality
Milk where it needs not be
in luxury not infant powder
hungry breasts run dry by hunger
sapped empty in the face
of some lives counting
more than others where
camouflage is but
a distant varnish
in the pursuit of power
Soon their will be billboards
“Baghdad was not built
in a moment” “Invest in
Kabul” “Concrete for Allepo”
“Live the dream”
“Life liberty and the
pursuit of happy-mess”
“Constructing globality”
Munching away in my
cushioned arm chair
built from greedy land mines
I collude
“You can have your milky ways”
if the bomber pilots did not
eat them all
Whose wives implant their chests
with silicone from
the valley of evil
that forgot
Instead the artificial brain
the heart transplant
Mindful disposition
of humanity
Looking
instead at the stars
spangled banners
of Damascus
Milky ways
Categories:
starry, war,
Form:
Free verse
Young Emily sat gazing at a door, that with careful strokes was painted..
a starry, but moonless night.
In wandering dreams of far away lands, nameless artist unacquainted,
she wond'red what lay beyond the door held tight.
Her knees, now drawn together, gently touched beneath her chin,
were clasped by all ten fingers,
cloaked in silky smooth skin.
Just then did the door utter softly, three words from four worldly tongues...
in Mandarin, Hindi, Gaelic, and Greek, as if from heroes long dead and unsung...
Though Emily sat listening to each word that was spoken,
she understood not even one,
languages left old, yet unbroken,
from under a forgotten Sun.
Like a great bard the door, in even older languages said aloud.
In Tamil, Persian, Hebrew, Irish, and Basque...
As if finally by fate the three words "Please open me" were endowed...
Emily, now standing, said...
"You needed only to ask".
Categories:
starry, art, innocence, language, philosophy,
Form:
Ballad