Best State Poems
There’s a beguiling danger in beauty…
seduced as I was by the fickle fingers of fate musingly stroking my hair,
I envisaged
this lusciously lavish landscape
of sun-raptured heavenly hills and valid valleys
to be a lush, plush place for me to land ~
alas, such deception my naive perception did offer.
Buried beneath the facade of a fertile dream-come-true
and a mesmerizing mirage of natural light and zephyrus breaths -
where your thoughts hugged the horizons of my mind
like clouds on the edges of prairie dog skies
and where your stampeding passions trampled my inhibitions -
were delicate bandeaux of ice;
finespun and feathery like polar gossamer
that formed on the stems of your ruptured dreams
that then became my nightmare
when you had your hard freeze
while warm sap still flowed through your veins,
pumped and pushing through your broken being
and freezing on contact with the chilled clime
cocooning me, in a sudden silken surge of your glazing gauze
holding me, in the vivid wild magic of your frosted crystallized clutches -
fossilizing me, in icy opalescent ribbons of ornate whorls.
Unable to escape the grasping glacial petals of your exquisite pain,
your frost flowers plunged me into the frigid heart
of your bitter bluestem’s prairie winter...
There’s a beguiling beauty in danger
hypnotized and hijacked
as I was by the rhythmic sways of your tall grass ways -
your flickering tongue tasting my air
as my emotions were extorted
till I was bled white -
obviously oblivious
that I was being preyed upon
by a stealthy force of nature motivated by indigenous instincts.
Susan Ashley
March 13, 2018
~ First Place ~
Premiere Contest: Poetry for the Sake of Poetry
Sponsor: John Lawless
*bluestem: tall grass native to the Great Plains with bluish leaf sheaths*
*frost flower: thin layers of ice extruded from long-stemmed plants in autumn or early winter. These thin ice layers form dainty ‘ribbons’ or ‘petals’*
A Dylan Thomas State of Mind
It’s precisely 2:45am...the time when
~ if I’ve fallen asleep ~
I always awake to find
Myself drenched in sweat.
I lie here beside my beloved
~ as I have so steadfastly since
16 November 2016 ~
Thinking about...wondering...pondering
The end of my existence.
I am not talking about
Taking my own life.
NO!
I’ve seen, heard, touched, tasted, smelt
too much...
I’ve survived too much, felt too much...
I value Howard’s sweet...sweet...
Nurturing soul’s devotion
To keeping me alive these past 40 years
To raise my hand against myself...now.
I AM talking about these things:
Where do we go when we die?
Do I have a soul?
Will I be conscious — at the moment it happens —
That I am drawing my very last breath?
Sometimes, when I awake in the early morn,
Howard is motionless beside me
And I stare at his beautiful face.
Dare I reach out and touch it with one finger?
What if it’s stone cold?
His flesh heavy...dead?
Death.
The End of Living.
The End...The End...The End...
Last January I begged for surcease...
For an end to the pain...
An end to the physical torture...
An end to the psychic suffering...
The constant thoughts of:
“Is there a Hell?”
“Will I go there if I take my own life?”
“What does ‘eternity’ mean?”
Now this morning of 19 October 2017
I am thinking...feeling...praying:
Please...Please...Please...
God/Goddess/All That Is/The Universe/The Spirit
Make my neglected hated scorned body
Healthy and whole.
So I may live
today...
tomorrow...
next month...
next year...
Do not let me go gentle into that good night.
I am alive now...
And I rage...
I RAGE NOW!
....against the dying of the light.
Barbara Dickenson
19 October 2017
You'll never know
This lonely hole
Where cold winds blow
My worthless soul
Or never hear
These falling tears
The silent cheers
When death comes near
Fortunately
To some degree
You'll never see
The pain in me
These things I feel
Try to conceal
They will not heal
But they are real
Daniel Turner
Heaven has kissed the rolling hill
the ocean waves, and desert
an earthly token of goodwill
set sparrows to sing in concert.
A gentle touch awakes the morn
in shades of pomegranate
a fragile lipping, dawn is born
through the woods and cliffs of granite.
The globes caressed and embraced
as each denizen is delighted
for death is not a rendered grace
life is heaven, all are invited.
Senseless fear of others, being shy.
All my life, been the uneasy guy.
It's a functional thing, not organic.
Social situations, just that little bit of panic.
"Stranger anxiety" from early childhood,
never left me, then even Mom and Dad weren't good.
You'd think I wouldn't feel it, at least with my wife,
though even there it's a tiny part of life.
Get through the day fine, and publicly do okay,
but what would it be like to not feel this way.
December 5, 2016
For FJ Thomas's contest
To claim no purpose for this toxic state,
other than hate or desired submission.
To find a spirit chained to the walls of circumstance,
by birth and denied just cause,
because of skin color.
To struggle in the land of the free,
trapped in a quagmire of unreasonable eyes,
fighting the cold hands of society wrapped around your throat,
making it hard to breathe,
in the noxious gas that is this toxic state.
12/3/16
contest Toxic State
We start out this life all the same-
Looking for happiness while playing life’s game;
We search for another to help us get through-
For we think that’s the easiest thing to do;
We hope that someone else will make us feel whole-
But then what happens if they decide to go;
Do you turn to someone else or try something new?-
Where else can you look? What else can you do;
You can have another drink or pop another pill-
But that kind of happiness just isn’t real;
To life you feel like you don’t belong-
And you wonder to yourself where you went wrong;
Then, you look in the mirror and what do you see?-
A glimpse of yourself saying, “Look inside me”;
For happiness is purely a state of mind-
Something you must look inside to find…
clouds
of
incense~
inhaling
exotic
dreams
AP: Honorable Mention 2020
Posted on December 13, 2019
soothing your soul self
a knowing within your heart
what is best for you
dream state magic
introspective sureness
living your truth
bathing your soul self
hearing yourself realistically
being the most healthy statistically
living your joy artistically
following your absolute truth mystically
your angel guides know the eliminations and
inclusions that you will need to delight in
your bliss and live your true soul self
In the woods...
You can find that mysterious place
Where solace, is best described as grace
That place where man and mind, can talk
And when needed, rearrange his heart
Here, there are no printed rules to see
The strong survive, as it should be
While quietly, observing surroundings there
You realize, the cost of life is dear
As vultures feed on meager flesh
Left from last night's unseen death
But, fragile too...as morning dew
Settles soft on a spiders web
Saplings fight for rays of sun
Among thickest shades of green
Like us, in life on the run
Seldom feeling we're really seen
The seasons come, the cycles run
The old ones die, the young ones fly
From brown to green..and green to brown
Then it starts all over again
Yet in the woods...
You can find that place
Where solace, is best described as grace
That place where man and mind, can talk
And when needed..rearrange his heart
Man is the intruder here
It's up to you...accept or fear
9-3-2013
©Donna Jones
To their government Utah is true -
Not just state, but the federal too,
and so with great pride
they display on each side
of their flag the old Red, White and Blue.
Also famous for their industry,
Utah honors the cute bumble bee,
of which I now brag.
Center stage on their flag
is the hive of the bee….. naturally!
On Utah’s state flag is an eagle -
The symbol of peace, it is regal!
Pioneers, though, preferred,
a more interesting bird.
Why not on the flag is a seagull?
Most Utahans should know the story.
Long ago, crickets tried to destroy
the crops, till each gull
in Salt Lake ate them all!
That bald eagle has stolen gull’s glory!
Now a monument in Salt lake stands
for the sea gull, and isn’t it grand
that a bird that should be
living nearby the sea
is in love with a dry desert land!
Written by Andrea Dieitrich
July 22, 2015 for the contest of Judy Konos
NOTE: Came back here to say it's Pioneer Day (July 24). Utah is the only state to celebrate it. I can hear fireworks outside my house!!
State of Confusion
No to progress
Yes to Pence
No to openness
Yes to the camps
No to socialism
Yes to the lemmings
No to healthcare
Yes to healthcare
Very confusing
However
You have the worst healthcare
That's not confusing
Someone wrote his speech
Pay attention
They do not write his tweets
Llies upon lies
Poison ivy infects the land
Everyone is scratching their heads
Some though hide in the sand
Heads buried in hatred's depth
Comrades
Wake up!
Marry Your Best Friend To Get the Best of Both Worlds
Not many can claim they met their spouse in a battle of wits
much less the fabled (don't believe a word of it!) Internet.
But my uncle, he's not many. And my new aunt? Well she's a keeper.
And it wasn't love like a summer fling --- but it goes much deeper.
The rumors you heard - it's all too true - they met on Online Scrabble:
sesquipedalians by heart, but in the strictest sense, true Word Warriors.
Her last turn was an "I Do"... and when it came, he knew that he was done for:
pussyfooting through the back door, the tenacious Triple Word Score.
The date was planned - his bachelorhood canned. Compensated on Christmas day,
a wifie from Wales to tie the knot with my uncle the Stud from the Spud State.
The Red Dragon Damsel flew in (too strong to be distressed) into my uncle's country life.
(I still remember his clenched fists pouring buckets at the altar ... his first love)
And she brought her little Dragoness, too --- a fiery spark named Emily.
My job was to walk my new British cousin down the aisle,
as she whispered to me, "Should we link arms?"
And though I should have said, "What's the harm?"
instead of a rather robotic canter --- it now brings a smile.
My lovely Aunt Laura wore an eggplant dress, as if too challenge the mountain majesty
that peaked through the church window of that fine Idahoan morn.
Her glorious entry introduced by a Celtic song that would have made Enya weep,
as the vertigo of vows came to a close like a caged bird being released.
Mariah Carey's famous Christmas hit took to life --- All I Want Is You, rang true,
as they took each other's arms to dance celebrating an unlikely circumstance.
Crossing oceans to become One: she from Barry, and he from Boise.
The After Party --- filled with giggles, tears and rip-roaring stories from every point of view.
The wedding cake (believe it or not) was a Scrabble board:
one slice was Congratulations - and though a bit silly, to me it was poetry.
And my uncle - you could tell - was simply dumbfounded
as she took the words right out of his mouth
... with a crumb-filled smooch.
Written February 27th, 2016.
For the My Wedding Day Is Special Because... hosted by Olive Eloisa Guillermo
NOTE: I've never been married before, so I hope writing about my uncle's wedding instead is acceptable.
Oregon’s, wildlife, mountains, lakes, and bogs
Fields of green, awaken refreshed at dawn
Where salmon runs the rivers blue to spawn
Drawn wandering above the sea of fog
Black-tailed and mule deer birth their newborn fawns
Where shaggy mane elks labor their spring calves
Rustle sounds while they graze off open paths
Wander under the full moon of predawn
Sea of umbrellas on rainy season
Fireplace frames warm sputtering ember flames
Snow cold, in fella’s embrace with no shame
Turning me into shades of pink crimson
Savoring the earth's nurturing labor
Giving my heart to the verdant nature
12/30/2016
My home for 36 years
I bent the universe
I bent the universe
back and forth
rapidly until
it cracked
and still couldn’t
fit through
to the future
or the past
Written for the Toxic State contest
Sponsored by FJ Thomas