Best Stealthily Poems
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People amble by in view of the placid lake
Mesmerized by horizon adorning scarlet
While not far from the Oak tree, I stealthily lay
Enthralled in musical repertoire of Blue Jays
As squirrels run wild in a purposeful race
And searching for food woodpeckers peck.
Trust me when I say they are no friends--
One by one they devoured my mates
And now here I am, the only one left--
Thanks to the kid who curiously picked me
And threw me away in callous disdain
Landing in a pit just a few yards from the lake
Still within grace of the golden daybreak.
My endurance burned in hot summer days
And resilience ached in stormy, rainy haze
Till cooler nights met dewy vibrant dawns
As resplendent vistas autumn witnessed
And falling colors floated in evening breeze
Burying me in cloak of fiery-red leaves
For semblance of warmth in winter forlorn.
In misery of wet, cold my core utterly soaked
As I almost lost hope of sanguine heart echoes
Until aura of life the young spring invoked
When my roots formed, sprouting new growth
And slowly I up-rose in a delightful world
Marveling rising skies of ruby brushstrokes.
April 24, 2020
HM: Strand Pick H Contest
The last acorn poetry contest
Sponsor: John Lawless
Categories:
stealthily, imagery, nature, tree,
Form:
Personification
I dreamed that I stood in a valley, and amid sighs,
For happy lovers passed two by two where I stood;
And I dreamed my lost love came stealthily out of the wood
With her cloud-pale eyelids falling on dream-dimmed eyes.
William Butler Yeats
Notions had gathered inside my head;
a wanderlust that refused to be denied.
Within my mind, the need of love was bred,
burned in tongues of fire that torched a hole
inside my heart and seared my soul.
I sought the finest wine from the valley floor,
to sate my thirst when he'd stand at my side.
I climbed heathered hills; crossing streams
Down twisting paths I ambled, taking wrong turns
until I found the enchanting vision in my dreams,
and feasted on the fruit of my heart's desire.
But too soon he slipped from my arms.
Left behind were his vespers in passion's embers,
and fading echoes of his whispered words.
Time rushed through years like sifting sand
but the fire he kindled has not died.
I remember the gentle touch of his hand,
and sweet moments of devotion we stole.
Now, with feeble steps I remain in pursuit
of memories we made long ago in the valley.
I hear his voice in the wind, and I cannot refute
that love's flame still burns within my soul.
An interpretation of ''The Song of Wandering Aengus,"
by William Butler Yeats.
Categories:
stealthily, love,
Form:
Rhyme
Smiling mirthfully, relishing amber twilit theme,
Bedazzled in musings, reveling memories agleam,
Oh! how you charm, gazing eve’s blushing arc,
Where scarlet hues delight, igniting love spark
When impulses, moonlit, passions playful cajole
As we stroll daydreaming trekking verdant knoll,
Ambling in romance, two sensuous souls extol;
Just after the setting sun merges with the sea
And sky above stages a concert of stellar glee
When seductive vibes on wings of zest spree
Questing for, stealthily, doting hearts’ consent
Chasing exaltation, love-struck hints augment,
Exuding scent amatory from emboldened heart
Intoxicating affection smitten feelings impart;
Clasping amorous moment together we found,
Where tick of blazing hearts is the only sound
But for the clues tiptoeing, arousing carnal bliss,
Pinging fervent longings yearning endearing kiss,
Enchanting intentions of eager, flirtatious night
Courting your approval, ecstatic reveries ignite,
Sowing dreams euphoric to bloom in fertile dawn
Aspiring love evermore, blossoming on and on.
July 30, 2022
Placed 1st: Rhyme Rumi Quote Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Sotto Poet
(151 words)
Categories:
stealthily, love, romantic,
Form:
Rhyme
Rhythms of pulses echo in souls, augmenting tenor of love song,
Reminiscing in sanctuary of life, together they shared for long;
Yet, memories sadly clamor aloud, since the day she’s been gone,
Of nightmares that cruelly shattered, dreams of their avid dawn.
Her unwritten absence now perturbs in void of the undone, unsaid,
As their unfinished tapestry longs, for stitch of the missing thread;
Vying affluence she delivered, to wealth of their beloved yore,
Steadfastly defying angst that destiny grievously brought to fore.
Unseen, she still occupies, fond yearnings of his moaning heart,
Struggling in her absence, since stealthily she decided to part,
Missing her hypnotizing smile enriching the fervor of her glance,
Nostalgic in embrace of desires, proffering a pledge of romance.
Emptiness haunts him now for misinterpreting clues of silent sighs,
As regrets torment: how long did her smile, hide her desolate cries;
Neither could he sense in her eyes, tacit bawl of love gone awry,
Nor could he decipher from her kiss, subtext of her covert goodbye.
Curtain may fall, music may end; yet allure of real love never dies,
Words of their solemn oath, unwritten absence no longer denies,
For bond of love reinvigorates hearts, tolling eternally as time,
Strumming passion’s sound of music, enamored in love sublime.
Categories:
stealthily, absence, love, love hurts,
Form:
Rhyme
Skulking between the thinning clumps
Of tattered sedge
A balding coot despondently calls,
Scratching Blackbirds scutter deeply
Into a Hawthorn hedge;
Whilst, creeping stealthily,
Gathering darkness onwardly crawls.
The blackened Moorhen washes the clinging
Soot from his feathered form,
Rising above the mirrored pond in awkward
flight.
Gathering clouds mumble softly of an
Impending storm,
When, silently menacing, inwards marches
The approaching night.
Listening intently, between murmurs upon
A breeze,
I check my step and briefly pause -
To catch a low sigh whispered from among
The sullen trees...
A last desperate plead of their lost cause.
For now billowing cumulonimbus sags
And begs to stall,
As, slowly homeward bound, I gather
About me to hastily make;
Where, circling high in rushing element,
The ragged Buzzard begins to fall...
Upon Heavens gathered Furies -
That so conspire to thunderously break!
Categories:
stealthily, weather,
Form:
Rhyme
assorted like the washing on its lines
the words appeared along my way
in bunches of neat paragraphs
they briskly flapped into my mind
still dripping with those concepts they
must have been soaked in for a while
I gladly felt them touching me
and liked their affluent display
of shapes and textures manifold
enjoyed the pleasant freshness
of the smell they carried off all
seasons’ winds spiced with ideas
time passing by would watch me
stealthily try on this one or that so
in their context rinsed with thought
to cool the feverish qualms of my
keen heart and growingly my soul
seems to be draped in purified attire
Categories:
stealthily, allegory, friendship, life,
Form:
Poe laid flowers on her grave
His lost Lenore
One he’d love forevermore
But doomed to see her nevermore
Storm clouds expelled true daylight
Yet near her grave on a dead oak tree
An ebony raven stared and seemed to agree
“Nevermore,” the bird mocked, flying off with ironic glee
Clouds burst, pelting the cemetery with rain
Back to his horse and carriage Poe ran
Was Poe a pawn in this raven’s game plan
An unhealthy racing of his heart began
Arriving home, Poe sought to forget
But there was the red-eyed, sinister bird
Perched on the pallid bust of Pallas, it said just one word
“Nevermore,” was all Poe heard
Stealthily the bird had entered through an open window
“Did God summon you to add to my grief?”
Poe pleaded, “Will I ever find relief?”
“Nevermore,” cried the demon, to Poe’s disbelief
Poe tried to rid his home of the tormenting invader
“Fly away; take your word with you!”
But the evil visitor would not bid adieu
Its single word was malicious; Poe could not misconstrue
When rainfall ended, the raven flew to the windowsill
“Be gone!” Poe screamed, his voice filled with hate
It eyed him once more, leaving Poe in a crazed state
But loving memories of Lenore it could not desecrate
*Written October 1, 2014
Categories:
stealthily, angst, bird, lost love,
Form:
Rhyme
Out of hell’s breath the Devil’s Coachman comes and turns
around the tale to woe twists as the world creeps backwards
underneath the clay slithering sacrificial savagery begins
Ghastly ghostly spectres watch on with soulless glee
under laid this icy moon the toxic evil venom spews
within hideous precision it claw’s innocent victims prey
Fiercely gnashing jaws instinctively in this fiendish predator of night shades
dark striking off balance this stead of hell delivers his deadliest of blows
disturbingly the pungent smell permeates this surrounding sphere
Paralyzing unwary sufferers arching like a scorpion ready to strike
acrimony spreads stealthily through the shadowy invasion within the beast’s bite
suffering of hades destructive force inflicts a prelude to the apparitions
Awakening within this lair of madness an unsuspecting sacrifice
blinding under tombstones creeping slowly chill’s out
through one veil of darkened soil a nocturnal predator comes to feed
Liquefying resistant victim within the glaze of ebony eyes
mystic powers claiming to be magic crushing the core of Eve’s apple
emerging covered with its sclerotized plates the Coachman devours
Repast of putrid skin the last victim lies rotten
one captured soul sinks into the river of Acheron
final reward for the unwitting wounded prey
Begins eternal downward descent
drawn up and treasured by this hungry decedent of a Rove
carried away into hidden hollows of the dead roaring
Fiercely jealous of it’s captive trophy
sector’s remain vigilant to guard such treasured stored
this Coachman’s rightly domain claims a legion to an underworld
The deepest and darkest secrets expelled unrighteous
this scarabaeus reaper as black inside with a rapier blade and sickle
condemned are the two faced between thee jaws of this deadly fiend locked on
A co-written piece by Liam Mcdaid & Donna Loughman
Categories:
stealthily, dark, halloween, horror, imagination,
Form:
Terza Rima
How can you look someone in the eyes and tell them it's the end?
How can you possibly do that without shedding tears?
Or even blinking?
Do you not feel it? That pain, that pain that's taking over
Their soul, as you tell them their life is ending?
Or maybe it's just that you have lost your own soul?
In that instant when you found out that the greatest part of yourself
Is about to disappear,
That its light was about to be permanently extinguished.
Can't you feel it? That sorrow that slowly shutters their hearts?
Or the fear that's taking over their minds? it's a furious fire,
Cutting off any glimpse of hope with its smog,
That fear, its suffocating their soul into its last gasp.
Can't you see it? How that laughter ends sharply, in pain?
How it breaks in half every time, never to relapse into its fullness?
How the darkness stealthily takes over those, once life-filled, eyes?
That following calm,
It's the call of darkness,
Smoothly enchanting their soul into submissiveness.
Until all is in deadly silence,
Their bodies still, their souls forever gone into unknown.
Do your tears come then? Do you feel their pain then?
Do you see it? Or do you stay the same?
Unchanged, unemotional, shell shocked,
And forever unbelieving still?
Categories:
stealthily, dark, death, deep, fear,
Form:
Free verse
Out of hell’s breath the Devil’s Coachman comes and turns
around the tale to woe twists as the world creeps backwards
underneath the clay slithering sacrificial savagery begins
Ghastly ghostly spectres watch on with soulless glee
under laid this icy moon the toxic evil venom spews
within hideous precision it claw’s innocent victims prey
Fiercely gnashing jaws instinctively in this fiendish predator of night shades
dark striking off balance this stead of hell delivers his deadliest of blows
disturbingly the pungent smell permeates this surrounding sphere
Paralyzing unwary sufferers arching like a scorpion ready to strike
acrimony spreads stealthily through the shadowy invasion within the beast’s bite
suffering of hades destructive force inflicts a prelude to the apparitions
Awakening within this lair of madness an unsuspecting sacrifice
blinding under tombstones creeping slowly chill’s out
through one veil of darkened soil a nocturnal predator comes to feed
Liquefying resistant victim within the glaze of ebony eyes
mystic powers claiming to be magic crushing the core of Eve’s apple
emerging covered with its sclerotized plates the Coachman devours
Repast of putrid skin the last victim lies rotten
one captured soul sinks into the river of Acheron
final reward for the unwitting wounded prey
Begins eternal downward descent
drawn up and treasured by this hungry decedent of a Rove
carried away into hidden hollows of the dead roaring
Fiercely jealous of it’s captive trophy
sector’s remain vigilant to guard such treasured stored
this Coachman’s rightly domain claims a legion to an underworld
The deepest and darkest secrets expelled unrighteous
this scarabaeus reaper as black inside with a rapier blade and sickle
condemned are the two faced between thee jaws of this deadly fiend locked on
A co-written piece by Liam Mcdaid & Donna Loughman
Categories:
stealthily, dark, halloween,
Form:
Terza Rima
With just one glance her enchanting smile won
Cadence of his heart crooning: she was the one
And fairy-tale of sweethearts had thus begun
Stealing stealthily the missives of alluring eyes
Gawking sundown on ebullient magenta skies
Welcoming newfound tempo passions bestow
In temple of his soul where halos of love glow.
Tethered to that moment strums song of yore
Serenading love, lauding memories sublime,
Extolling moment divine, firmly etched in time,
Never conquered since, nor tendered before,
Pulsing strings of hearts its rhythms now implore
Gilded autumns of fervor to forever blaze ardor
As melodies romantic soar, warbling evermore.
Years have traversed, yet, he treasures that smile
Eloquent in her style, as sensuous eyes beguile,
While tolling bells of fate blissful hymns chime:
Oh! how one sweet moment became a lifetime,
Neither shall it wither, nor fade from its prime;
This moment divine, now memorialized in time~
Tethered to it journeys, his blessed life sublime.
August 30, 2021
Poem of the week on September 5, 2021
Placed 1st: This or That, Vol 6 Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Edward Ibeh
Title chosen: Tethered To A Moment
Categories:
stealthily, love, memory,
Form:
Rhyme
In the smiting chill of a dreadful wintry night
When through every fiber n’ nerve, was the cold bite,
I was sitting cocooned beside my hearth,
Sipping a cup of steaming tea of my choicest blend.
Suddenly my attention was caught by something moving,
Through my window I saw a shadowy figure.
But who would dare to be out on such a night?
It was a night when winter slumber suddenly had grown,
Into a blizzard with blinding snow and hail flooding
When the land lay blanketed under snow’s strangulating clutch
When leafless trees stood motionless like spectral shadows
When animals stayed in their boroughs or dens in hibernation
But what I thought I had seen earlier
Was not a whim or a figment of my imagination.
I clearly saw someone walking, moving slowly or stealthily.
It disturbed me and I wanted to know who he was.
Unlikely to be a robber or a rogue with some sinister intent.
Could be a man who lost his way and needed urgent help.
Impelled by an irresistible urge to find out who he was,
I plunged myself into the sea of snow holding on to faith.
Faint moon light was shimmering between dancing snowflakes.
Not quite sure if I would find an enemy or a friend,
I walked on, pledging I would face what might come.
As I moved closer to that tottering figure
I realized he was someone half frozen in snow,
Desperately trying to get back home,
And I was on a divine mission to be the hands of God,
To direct a waylaid traveler back home,
And save a helpless soul from being frozen to death.
I don’t know what happened to that man beyond that night,
But am sure, he has survived many more winters,
And would be thankful to God for the providential help,
That saved his drowning life on such a fateful wintry night.
Now when I think of it, I feel even a bleak winter day,
Can be made bright by the power of kindness that we show.
It is the concern and preparedness to help someone in trouble,
That ignites our hearts with a divine spark and helps us connect.
Categories:
stealthily, nature, snow, winter,
Form:
Free verse
So enchanted was Sun by Queen Sea
as he sat near some clouds high above
he began sliding down stealthily
till he touched the dark face of his love.
Then Sir Sky, so aroused by Sea’s hue,
began melting along with Sun’s rays,
and by now, Sun was dipping into
the blue depths of Queen Sea. In a daze,
Sky gazed down, and with ruddishness blushed!
Then a third lover looked on the face
of Queen Sea. Feeling thrilled, Night then brushed
rosy heavens with deep purple lace.
Night embraced lovely Sea! Sun was gone.
And again, Sky with envy looked on.
Sonnet done in nine-syllable lines for
the Anapest Trimeter Contest of Pendleton Arkwright
Categories:
stealthily, night, sea, sky, sun,
Form:
Personification
The talentless, envious, plagiarist’s dream
Was to find someone’s ‘Works’ on a shelf or a beam
In a Pub, in a folder, alone and ignored
As the author lay slumped and as drunk as a lord
Stealthily taking those coveted sheets
He rushes off home via dimly lit streets
When his doors were all locked and the curtains drawn tight
He copied his windfall well into the night
First thing next day, not long after he’d phoned
He went to his agent with the stuff that he’d cloned
Dreaming of royalties and acclaim by his peers
But for him it was destined to end up in tears
There’s some gentlemen waiting for him in the hall
(His agent had asked two policemen to call)
“These poems aren’t yours, they’ve already been done
By that drunk in the pub, who is also my Son!”
So, if you aspire to a literary style
You should write your own poems or books but meanwhile
Twixt penning a story, blank verse or a rhyme
Keep your hands off my stuff or be Shamed for your Crime!
Categories:
stealthily, poetry, writing,
Form:
Rhyme
With beating heart and dragging feet this dark and soulful night
I stealthily tiptoe past her window hoping - not to see her light
But bathed in luminosity she sits there in full view
My hands go clammy yet again knowing not what to do
My very own neighbour stalking me totally blows my mind
Blatant betrayal of trust is not what I expected to find
This person I befriended and in all innocence confided
Her skewed level taken is so atrociously misguided
Why did it go so horribly wrong - maybe I'm to blame?
When did I notice that it had gone way beyond a game?
It was when she started slipping notes underneath my door
Saying she was worried senseless - and couldn’t sleep before
I got home safely - it was fine - and know that she would wait
She loved me and worried that I was coming home so late
This declaration of love albeit sweet makes my skin start to crawl
I should call security to have them a special alarm install
At the door of my porch once again I find a single stem red rose
Bringing perturbations and shallow breath as this agitation grows
A fleeting shred of courage for confrontation I do seek
But just the thought of facing her sends a knocking to my knees
One day it all comes tumbling down when my girlfriend breaks my heart
Waves of sorrow wash over me when I see my love depart
Love is such a fleeting thing and my soul weeps from deep within
Scandalous thoughts I do harbor - of granting my stalker in
Tie the wedding knot - make it taut - cater to our every whim
And into her arms some comfort seek - would it be such a sin?
~ Placed First in Contest~
Contest Entry for ‘STALKER’ -
Sponsored by Silent One -
17th November 2017
Music – ‘Stalker’ by Goldfinger
Categories:
stealthily, addiction, crush, humorous, scary,
Form:
Rhyme