Best Steeled Poems
Regally it stands, the staunch guardian of her lonesome heart,
Reminiscing in revelries of yore, treasured memories impart,
Defying glum turbulence of now, hanging on to seasons past,
When springs-winsome banished, doldrums harsh-winters cast.
Disheartened, the gate harkens back~ O, so young its master died,
Lamenting of distressed times, when grief stilled her teary eyed;
Yet, with resolve, it squeaks its hinges, resounding a voice of pride,
Beckoning to benevolence of bliss, fate had so callously denied.
With kindred vibes it greets her, vying elation of cherished days,
Suppressing aches and rattles of its rusting, clamoring, phase;
Preferring realm of time, when he was the keeper of this place,
As dutifully now it opens wide, exuding mirth of youthful grace.
O, how fondly the gate recalls, dance of duo beneath full moon,
Humming melodies intimate, passions of doting souls croon,
Embracing celebration of life, as heartbeats enamored attune,
To rhythms emanating song of love, strumming infatuated tune.
Despite groans and whimpers, blaring aloud clattering of pain,
The gate vows to protect her, refusing ever to wither or wane,
Unwavering through thunders, rains, vicious strikes of feeble age,
Challenging its steeled bones, to gallantly defy seasons’ rage.
Categories:
steeled, emotions, memory, missing,
Form:
Personification
When the night wind changes course
sending breezes from the north,
when farmer's fields lie brown and fallow
and empty ropes swing from the gallows,
when children's faces are drawn and gaunt
and earth-bound spirits wail and haunt,
when eagles scan the barren snow
and field mice shiver deep below,
The dragon stirs deep in his lair,
the townfolk sense him with despair,
the mountain rumbles as he wakes,
he spreads his wings, the valley quakes.
He snorts and breathes a sulphur fire
and eyes his cache with dark desire,
gold and gemstones line his cave,
a sea of diamonds with emerald waves.
The trees are black against the snow,
one warrior stands to face his foe,
chain mail clanking, his sword is honed,
he goes to face his fate alone.
Fire breathing, wing-spread vast,
the warrior is at first aghast,
the dragon's chest and stomach, too,
shine with gems of multi-hues.
He'd slept so long upon his loot,
he wore a jewel-encrusted suit.
He saw the warrior's weapon glint
and chuckled at this innocent.
The dragon swooped and breathed his breath,
the warrior smelled the scent of death.
Many times the dragon dove
and set aflame the fields and groves.
Lost in this game, he gave no thought
to the warrior who mattered naught,
and as the dragon flew by low
the warrior drew his mighty bow.
The bow and arrows were Elfen-hewn,
inscribed with words in ancient runes.
The warrior held his breath and aimed
and steeled himself against the flames.
The dragon saw the arrow cocked
and turned his head, their eyes were locked.
The arrow's flight was straight and true,
into the dragon's eye it flew.
The warrior was elected king,
he wore fine jewels and heavy rings,
but though he tried, he found no peace,
he'd formed some strange bond with the beast.
The corpse was plucked clean of its jewels
and all the people danced like fools,
though he was king of hill and glen,
they never saw him smile again.
Categories:
steeled, adventure, fantasy, imagination, science,
Form:
Ballad
A final ugly bellow followed by the front door's slam and then. . .
the natural and sweet respite of silence.
She remained where he'd left her
and faced a pair of stony eyes staring back at her from the bathroom mirror.
Stoically she stood, anger-fingers pressed to the inside of the basin's rim.
A gall of indignation clutched at the inside of her throat.
Her whispered curses waxed into a scream, "I hate you. You bastard. I Hate You!"
Moments later. . . sad, kindred eyes met hers,
asking what they always asked, "How do you support this all these years?"
She gazed at the only one who truly knew and felt a rush of utter desolation.
Concentrated rage was channeled to a river of self-pity.
It spilled up and into the bile of her throat, erupting in her helpless gasps,
transforming into hard and bitter sobs,
and with this lament came gushing tears.
Nothing else existed but the woman in the mirror and the grief.
Some moments passed. She sniffled.
Further weeping now would take some effort.
She sighed the sigh of familiar resignation.
Glancing at her consort, red-eyed, in the mirror,
she turned the faucet on and dabbed a tear-streaked face.
The telephone was ringing, so as she went to get the phone,
she steeled herself
in case the flood had not entirely ebbed.
For the Catharsis Contest of Nayda Ivette Negron
Categories:
steeled,
Form:
Free verse
You’ve come from cold
Hushed words not told
Don’t say those things
The shame it brings
Don’t be so bold
Just let it mold
Deep in your soul
You dig a hole
Hide all your fear
No tears my dear
Wear your good cheer
No one will hear
You cry at night
When out of sight
You’re hard as steel
Your heart can’t feel
In light of day
No one can say
That you are weak
Your tears won’t leak
That day you find
One who is kind
Who feels your cry
In your mere sigh
A word of love
Soft as a dove
Safe in his arms
Steeled from all harms
Out pours the pain
Hard as spring rain
Tears must be wept
Hurt can’t be kept
________________________
January 31, 2018
Written for: 128 Word Contest
Sponsor: Silent One
[Checked in www.howmanysyllables.com]
Categories:
steeled, abuse, betrayal, child abuse,
Form:
Rhyme
Ronald was a tough old ram, the biggest of his breed
Daniel was a clipperman, renowned of shearing deed
Many sheep were sheared that day and woolless they had fled
Before those two met in affray and battled in the shed!
Ronald, he had seen old Wallace wrestled to the floor,
Mugged of his dignity and fleece, and knew that it was war
And seeing that his turn was nigh, his hooves he dug in deep
He'd fight and though perhaps he'd die, at least he'd die a sheep.
Daniel had no time to waste, he'd quotas set to keep
And unprepared, he reached in haste to take the waiting sheep
But Ronald steeled himself as Daniel took him by the horn
And, rearing, pulled himself away before he could be shorn.
Off-balance, Daniel stumbled, to Ronald's great delight
Onto his knees he tumbled as the shears flew out of sight
And Ronald now unhanded felt his victory increase
Protecting his sheep dignity and, likewise, his sheep fleece.
But Daniel was not beaten yet, he knew that he'd faced worse
His mind was still determined set, he rose up with a curse
But still he was unsteady and Ronald was a ram
His head was lowered ready and he charged the clipperman
Ronald's head met Daniel's side and toppled him again
This time headfirst and to collide his head against the grain.
Leaving, stunned, the clipperman upon the wooden floor
In final victory, the ram strolled out the open door.
But, alas, 'tis not the way that sheep triumph at last
And Daniel would not see the day that any sheep got past
Despite Ram Ronald's victor's pride, the shearer would not yield
So followed a less dignified pursuit around the field.
Ronald, he was fast and he had four legs matched to two
So Daniel was outclassed, if that was all that he could do,
But he also had a sheepdog and so Ronald was defeated
He would have had the victory, if Daniel hadn't cheated.
Categories:
steeled, adventure, animals, funny, imaginationold,
Form:
Rhyme
An earthen gray memorial stands alone against
A rugged desert landscape, built by the mortal
Hands of the faithful.
No bells do ring, in the churches steeple, but in the
Heart of Texas it's sounding message can never
Be silenced, remember the Alamo.
For the fighting men of valor's honors sacrificed,
All for liberation's call to freedom.
Listen to their whispering voices, traveling
Across the tangle weed dunes, and harken unto
Them, never to surrender even after death, do
They fight for country, hearth, and home.
These pioneer men whom built this nation's
Backbone, carved it out, with steeled bowie knife
Sharpened edge, and musket balls powder's flash.
Gathered here, for one last hurrah’s gallant stand off,
To the victor's gaining everlasting immortality.
Gallantry’s brave, shed their dearest blood, sacrificing
Giving everything they had, including life itself.
Cannon thunder bolts roar, as lightening rods raw force
Striking against mortars harden walls, yet the
Spirits of bravery strong, did not yield, or raise
The white shield of surrender.
Keep thy black powder dry, lift your rifles high,
But don't fire men, until you see the whites of
Your enemies eyes.
Under the hailing of gunfire’s smoke, did hells
Storm rage, both sides dying for their country's
Beliefs right or wrong.
Death's battlefield littered with fragments deceased,
A graveyard left unattended, wars unfortunate
Fallen, became salvation’s tribute to behold, in the distance
A tattered flag, still waves in the winds of freedom.
Bricks of defense, shattered as if made of glass,
Debris spewing outwards, towards martyred legacy's
Champions, killing many before they hit the ground,
Receiving remains of the valiant dead.
Oh in the heaven's trumpets did herald, these
Courageous souls, welcoming honored soldiers, home wards
Unto God's boundless country, for these explorers
To discover the horizon's endless divides beyond.
Prisoners living, taken by horse and rider were forced
To bow, beneath a foreign banners alien flag.
Yet even than their American hearts didn't waiver,
Until the swords steel severed life, from the fleshes beating
Drumming from within.
But the last warrior yelled a rebels battle cry,
And as he fell with his last dying breath,
Yelled out,
Remember the Alamo!!
BY: CHERYL ANNA DUNN
Categories:
steeled, america, history, imagery, imagination,
Form:
Free verse
Your soul is suffocating friend
I feel the sadness weighting you
The pain seems to be without end
My healing love cannot get through
You’ve buried hurt for far too long
A languid fester in your bones
Recalling only forlorn songs
The years have taken heavy toll
Those memories they’ll random come
And pain will boil and surface
And though you’re usually numb
Your tears well up with purpose
I witness valiant the fight
The joust as steeled emotion
That’s cloaked in armor so airtight
Is pierced with guile corrosion
Your words attempt escape and then
As grief seeps through your eyes
Please let your tears fall now my friend
Just I will hear your cries
I’ll lovingly collect your tears
And cleanse each as it falls
Let hurt come out from all those years
I’ll help you crumble that wall
Embracing you I’ll hug your soul
Your healing has begun
Unbury joy that sadness stole
My friend, I’ll be your sun.
12/08/2017
Categories:
steeled, depression, friendship, sad,
Form:
Quatrain
It started with an apple in paradise or was it a date they consumed
Had they kept their clothes off laundry day would have been easier
The smell of seduction and no fake news
Honestly who cares whether it was pure sex or sweet requited love
Darwin had his way and they followed a journey to un-heavenly bliss
Candied peel from a fruit of nibbling temptation
It was a Saturday and procreation their Christian duty to comply
With the rule of nature to mix seeds in fertile pastures of joy
Russian roulette from a gene pool of ancestral relief
I hear you say its the parents’ fault that happiness mutated
Into a warm gun with too many bullets to the beat of a drum
Golden delicious pipped kernels for conquest
Peaceniks taken to task for one simple innocent transgression
A nudist colony abandoned in the name of belligerent arrows
Collateral damage and indiscriminate targets
The story stemmed from every one begetting each other’s brethren
Breathless cohabitation under the watch of place time and poppies
Fig leaves of duty and denuded trees
Kalashnikovs draped on the snake’s slithering sleaze and corruption
Corporates bonking for virginity and testimony of final selection
Dripping deceit like custard on rotten flesh
Under a mushroom cloud hell fire dispenses irrefutable evidence
That the emperor’s garments are ragged down to a lice infested core
Adam and Eve seek asylum in a mental ward
Bedlam bound in shackles to the jester’s snide mocking applause
Psychotropic injections to remedy catatonic results of one violation
Rape pillage and plunder and Satan as a voyeur
Field brothels and comfort women un-sheath prickly pears in disguise
Persimmon dishes out passion steeled in sharp blades of the paring knife
And so we choke on what should have been celestial food
Pious and devoted to whipped cream and second helpings of anger
We feed on desolate fields and irrigate fear suffocation and slaughter
Eves of destruction and her toy boy sheds venom and pain
25th January 2020
Categories:
steeled, conflict, corruption, food,
Form:
Free verse
In the wee hours of the morning
When the owls and imps were upon the marsh
We would take our old pirogue and paddle into the darkness
Our intent was to catch bullfrogs but anything was game
We were two young boys armed with BB guns and fishing poles
Headlights strapped hard and tight around our skulls
We searched the shore and stumps for eyes glowing in the night
Cypress trees towered overhead and occasionally the canopy would break
And we would see the clouds drifting quickly past and catch a glimpse of the moon
The paddles would never break the waters surface, as silence was our friend
Once we spotted our prey we would move in slowly and my brother would creep
Slowly to the bow. He would bend over the bow reaching out many feet in front of the boat and grab the frog behind the front legs and quickly stash it away into a burlap sack
Every catch brought us great pleasure, as this was no easy feat. We could have shot them with the BB guns but that was illegal and not nearly as fun. On occasion we would have to steal them from a water moccasin that was ready to strike. Those moments were like lighting and only steeled our intentions to catch more.
Once we had caught a dozen or so we would begin to look for other prey to catch or harass (we were teenagers and couldn’t help ourselves). The occasional raccoon caught out in the open was always fun to chase but never pleasurable to have in the pirogue with us. We learned that lesson the hard way one night when I pushed the boat into the fork of a cypress tree with an old mother coon eating a turtle. My brother and I fought like hardened sailors to keep her at bay but both ended up in the water and nearly sank the pirogue.
Other occasions found us pulling loggerhead turtles from the depths and trying to dispatch them before they bit off a finger.
We both have all our appendages to this day, but I swear Lord we tried, we really tried to lose them.
I never saw a frog leg jump from the pan, but the old man did make us slice them at the knees just to be sure we didn’t loose a piece of that meat that tasted better than any chicken I ever ate.
Categories:
steeled, beautiful, childhood, water,
Form:
Narrative
You cried at losing, as some do;
Not I. Determined to accrue
That credit to my name
I courted and called fame,
I steeled myself and stood,
Rigid -- upright -- and would
Not deign reveal what graced
My form: two faces,
both mask-encased.
Categories:
steeled, allegory, angst, depression, introspection,
Form:
Rhyme
The game was on, the ball preparing itself;
Meditation would help it to handle the force
Of the bat when it smacked.
Ball loved to fly, fast and furious, so a few bruises and minor pain, meant nothing to him.
Ball steeled himself as the pitch was thrown; what would the old bat do?
Ball flew as fast as he could…crack!
Bat hit his mark and ball sped on even faster
till he landed with a thud in a cushy leather bed but,
he wasn’t through yet.
Once again he was thrown;
time for revenge, he flew angrily on and
landed with an almost sickening thud.
Whompf! The crowd roared as he hit his target;
basking in the glory of cheers and applause.
He could hardly wait to fly again.
Categories:
steeled, baseball, fun, games, poems,
Form:
Personification
*** Black Snow Storm ***
I’m blacker and madder and more than Hell I be bringin’ ya,
I’m a ****ed up assailant,
Mental-case mercenary hell bent,
Simultaneous and concurrent, I’m yo danger and yo savior.
But I’m real, and tangible, and do things unimaginable.
On the inside and ominous, searing truth burns my existence,
In the cold empty blanks of loathing inspired shadows,
Darkness manifests completely, as only I the one who knows.
Buried in denial, a Black Snow Storm of persistence.
Mad viral runaway,
Reaper-tagged, body bagged,
Peacefully performed, daily is as dooms a day.
Sicker than a mange’d up, street livin’ dog,
Fraudulent, Arrogant, Intelligent, and robbed.
Hustled by humanity, dignity straight-up jacked,
It’s parted-out and shipped out and neva comin’ back.
Crazy muthu****in razor bladed Snowflake,
Cold steeled touched be tight, and straighter-edged unique.
I’m in yo face, and in yo space,
An breathing stank leathelality,
Cuz crazy is as crazy does and I’m yo new reality.
I’m blacker than a ninja,
Trackin’ like a laza,
Murder-edged, star throwin’,
Life takin’ playa.
Fueled by the mental,
Conflicted, festering failure,
The whip-saw cracked, manic sized, consequential behavior,
The ease of mind is nowhere found, the truth be nothin’ gentle.
Snowflake driven, horrifying maelstrom,
Anarchist, Nihilist, devastating and then some.
Black Snowstorm blinded ya, and buried everything you know,
Snowflaka’ made it happen,
An unrelenting blizzard, of Black as coal Snow.
*** By djDiZZasteRR (AKA Brian Bauer) ***
Categories:
steeled, rap,
Form:
Lyric
The origin of the unicorn begin's in
A time and habitat where we did not live in
In Another Galaxy it could have been in
Or in an unexplored magical dimension
It was a land overflowing with milk and honey
Pure and abundant was it's skillful offspring
Enchanted with a forest that lulls you to sleep
With it's down reaching hum stemming from the trees
The little creatures were cordial and could speak
The streams of life were the preachers of the peace
The fireflies dancing a mild ballet at night
Would arouse even the most dormant soul to sing
But it was unicorns that governed the land
and so to say put everything under one's wing
A unicorn was considered the horse of the God's
It had the chiseled structure of a steeled spartan
It's horn holstered the power of a lighting rod
Sporting a mane as majestic as a mountain and
When it bucked on its hoofs the earth stood still in awe
They spent years on this planet protecting our spot
Behind the scenes in old men's wars they fought
But it was in the hidden rainbows with gold pots
Where their undisturbed and placid image was copped
Now its unfortunate we do not seem them nowadays
mainly because they did not embark on noah's ark
and all the CO-2 in the atmosphere we sprayed
means their world no longer remains and
Now their remains are just horses with no horns
and no potential to fly, so all they do is eat hay, ride and race
and when they die we just assume to make them into glue
JK! Happy Birthday!
* P.D. Unicorn Poem contest
Categories:
steeled, art, fantasy, funny, mystery,
Form:
Lyric
How could I survive without a computer, only heaven knows!
'Tis a necessary tool for my poetical verse to compose.
Today, the beast went down again, wouldn't you know it,
Just as I received a brilliant revelation so vital to a poet!
My technical aptitude is meager but I did try to reboot.
That was the extent of my expertise regarding a troubleshoot!
I couldn't figure out what else to do so as a last resort,
I called the computer company gurus for technical support!
I was talking with a foreigner, much to my consternation,
So I steeled myself for a challenging technical conversation!
He could be anywhere on that vast continent of Asia;
I later learned he was from the Islands of Malaysia!
I'm sure that in solving computer glitches he does excel,
And he obviously knows the Malaysian lingo very well,
But bless my soul, I hardly understood a word he uttered,
As in fractured English and technical jargon he sputtered!
I'm sure he thought he was talking with a first-rate dunce,
Since he had to repeat his instructions to me more than once!
As frustrating as it is, I reckon I'll have to resign myself,
To pleading for technical support beyond the continental shelf!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
(© All Rights Reserved)
Categories:
steeled, computer-internetcomputer,
Form:
Rhyme
She stood there, by the roadside;
eyes of obsidian,
framed in wispy lashes.
I was certain that she’d run
onto the crowded interstate.
The closer that I got, the more intense,
my neck muscles, grew.
In my mind, I visualized her,
leaping back into the woods.
I prepared to pull over,
but no one else was doing that for a deer,
I felt; at any rate,
I would not be dining on road kill tonight
and I hoped that, no one else would.
Go back into the woods, baby;
over and over I thought
and visualized her graceful rebound.
I drew closer, prepared to pull of onto the gravel;
I would not let her beauty be spoiled.
Tension turning neck and shoulders steeled,
I chanted my mantra…”go back…go back, baby”,..
Her soft, brown head turned, to look at me;
an instant glance,
confirmed that she’d received my message;
as she bounded back to the safety of her wood.
The focused mind, can work small miracles;
More than one life, was spared, that day.
Categories:
steeled, animal, nature, poems, poetry,
Form:
Prose