Best Stoking Poems
It's so dark outside, my eyes can't distinguish where sand meets water. Somehow, dusk has come and gone, plunging the evening into darkness.
But even as my eyes yield to this opaque absence of light, my other senses heighten. I can hear the crash of waves as they abuse the shoreline, sending foaming water up the beach in icy streams. I'm lulled by the sound of polished pebbles colliding like marbles as they recede with the waves. I can feel the sea's cool mist against my face, taste its salt on my lips. The scent of seaweed drifts on the breeze in gentle wafts - and then, slowly, the faintest whiff of smoke.
I glance over my shoulder, where a tiny dot of light penetrates the darkness. It's a beacon on this cool night, and I walk slowly toward it, digging my toes into the soft sand with each step.
dim moonlight
peeks through thinning clouds--
fire crackles
He's still there, stoking the fire, feeding the flames until the heat is tangible. The air wavers between us like a veil - a line I want to cross. He stirs up clouds of smoke, stirring feelings within me as I watch his busy hands. I wait patiently for him to notice my approach, and when he does, my breath catches.
rainbow flames
burst from seasoned maple--
blue eyes sparkle
I watch golden light flicker across his skin, softening the lines of his face. He abandons his task, moving around the fire until he stands before me, smiling as if he knows my heart is thundering in my chest.
He waits for a painstaking moment to pass. Then he kisses me with toasted marshmallow lips, pulling me down into his lap to watch the sparks rise like fireflies into the breathless night.
Categories:
stoking, love, nature, me, light,
Form:
Haibun
I dreamt a dream that renewed kindred memories
Rekindling past passions of moonlit love-themes,
Enamoring love-embers blooming heartfelt longings,
Crooning hints-romantic~ life’s a beauteous dream;
When merrily you enthralled me in springs of yore
Fetching yesteryears’ treasured keepsakes to fore
Lauding pages of albums seasons bygone adored
Reviving ardent allure, questing for love evermore.
I recognized fervid smiles of twinkles in your eyes
Tethered bashfully to arc of love on fulgent skies,
As together we watched winsome emotions climb
Inscribing on celestial canvas, halo of love sublime;
Just as Venus smiled and Moon winked impishly
When brilliant stars avowed~ forever we shall be,
And song of lark strummed of a mirthful morning,
Rising in paradise you envisioned for you and me.
Embraced in delight through night’s blissful fantasy
Inflaming love’s yearnings stoking endearing instincts,
Ascribing form and meaning to abandoned reveries,
Greeting me, you agreed~ life’s a beauteous dream.
October 6, 2022
Placed 1st: The Mystical Dream Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Anoucheka Gangabissoon
Categories:
stoking, dream, love,
Form:
Verse
How fondly he recalls when doting moon stared
Blush of her radiant smile gleamed opaline skies
While cuddling stellar vibes love they declared
And embracing her allure he venerated his prize.
In womb of romantic night passions-grand aired
Exchanging fervent vows, longing dawn of sunrise,
When revealing prurience every intention bared
In rhapsodic titillation euphoric feelings surmise.
Alas! soon emotions hid—dispiritedly impaired
When blissful times saddened hearing her cries
As souls, deceptively beguiled, no longer cared,
Silence between them grew stoking sullen guise,
For rise of whimsical day, woefully unprepared,
Shadowed glamorous arc, deeming fate unwise,
And upon sanguine horizons stygian storms flared
As the pledges of forever, destiny chose to revise.
She pleaded to forget the love they once shared,
Its flame was extinguished by whim of disguise;
Dreams they dreamt could no longer be repaired
Once the spark of aspirations abandoned her eyes.
Suppressions of emotions left them bereft, unpaired,
As lovelorn inhibitions roared, to spell their demise
Exiting prized fervor, forsaking dreams unrepaired,
Trapping unrequited love-vibes where passion dies.
May 10, 2022
Placed 1st: Pick-A-Title, Vol 30 – Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Edward Ibeh
Title Chosen: Internal Inhibition
Categories:
stoking, angst, heartbreak, lost love,
Form:
Rhyme
When Poetry Soup becomes infested with partisan rubbish,
It will be difficult for liberal, creative poets, like me to flourish
Who seek a safe place away from the maddening ignorance
Of those people who continually despise political difference
For those who are angry and want to say the nastiest things
Do you have any idea what hurt your insatiable blather brings?
For some who don’t consider me a red-blooded American patriot,
I fought for the U.S. of A. in uniform when you were still just a tot!
I would rather die on the altar of honor than continually be castigated
By followers of a “wannabe” dictator who every day prevaricated
And sought to drag our country down into the muck and mire
Continues, to this day, stoking his sycophants’ hatred with fire.
Selecting a political putdown of President Joseph Biden for Poem of the Day
Was surely inappropriate if Poetry Soup administrators wish to say
The site maintains neutrality when it comes to political discourse
It encouraged poets, in their remarks, to choose up sides, of course
Anger and vitriol hurled toward us who are of more left-leaning mind
Will likely now become commonplace for those who are not so inclined.
Frankly, I despise clicking on a poem I think will be worth reading
Only to find, instead, an anti-American tirade of invective leading
To put-downs against our president, the vice-president, and first lady
Half-truths and conspiracy theories that, for the most part, are shady
If you are unhappy with the free and fair election that turned out your man
Then, every chance you get, go vote and change the system, if you can!
Our country is not, I think we’d all agree, a perfect democracy
We have lots of problems and crises – that's plain to see, but,
We now have a leader who cares about doing what is right
A man, who in short-order, is ready, committed, and willing to fight.
I have travelled the world over, north and south, east and west
Freedom to flourish in America is head and shoulders above the rest!
Written: April 4, 2021 (edited)
Awarded Poem of the Day on Poetry Soup
April 5, 2021
#38 on Best New Poems on Poetry Soup
April 6, 2021
Categories:
stoking, perspective, political,
Form:
Political Verse
Fearless Raven, soaring in
the rich, dark chasm—
that world of shadows, echoes,
cliffs and crags chaotic,
the void of subtle stirrings in
a quintessential midnight—
Make some room for me
on your old, straight wings.
I, too, need to sense
lightning piercing stardust,
galvanizing mountains,
stoking distant thunder.
Let me catch a breath
of your pure, primeval air,
exotic and unshackling
latent, raw, unbounded.
Categories:
stoking, angst, bird, fantasy, freedom,
Form:
Free verse
Ah, the fortitude of a circle
the circular wisdom
of spring to summer fall to winter
the spinning wheel’s twist of threads -
at once both self-reliant and reliant
my soul to embryo seed to seedling
the mettle it takes for the genesis;
for my poppy pod to wake and break
a tiny speck of matter a fleck of duality unleashed
I surrender my dormancy to the earth -
roots reach deep like pale squiggly fingers
..for my kernel was laid to rest to bustle to life..
while my headstrong head pushes up through the soil
I come to be.. like a new idea taking shape
a physical being grounded
while seeking the realm of the Sun
the source of spirit as essential
as the dark womb from which I emerge
with a heart budding with the universe from nothing
I sprout as a sprig from a rounded grain
conceived in a gold-dusted flurry of furry buzz..
a bumblebee's dalliance with the center of a whorl
a mote of pollen so mite-like -- but
m i g h t y
in purpose potential and power
woven together in the art of creation
wind-driven autumn rains and sips of melted snow
..mother’s milk during the passage of time..
sweetly feeds the gentle needs for my tender birth
daystar’s dabble-dance with shadows
charm the chill from the cradle of the garden floor -
warm ginger dapples flit to find me between
canopy gaps in swish and sway..
mini-spots mirroring the disk of the Sun reminds me;
the image of what I’ll become
when my solar heart shines in a petal-chalice of flame..
rapture stirs the layers of humus
penetrating my essence with a ripening
stoking my fortitude to fulfill my destiny
to break free of that which holds me down
and reach ever higher inspired by a promise;
the golden circle of solace.. the bull's-eye in the sky
whose glow does kiss and grow my soul -
my inner space of bright sure to blaze
in a blossom cup’s confinement
my soul to embryo seed to seedling
sown to assure my flowering
my earthy ascension fulfills Nature’s cycle of nativity;
above the loam I rise to unfurl
and lift my airy leaves’ uncurl up high
in praise of the light
as the end of a gray season curves
into the festive yellow equinox of resurgence
Categories:
stoking, birth, faith, flower, garden,
Form:
Free verse
TOP GUN.
A keen jet pilot broke the speed of sound
A loud sonic boom he caused on the ground
House windows were broken
The whole town awoken
Claims from lawyers to the air force abound...
SANTA ON THE RUN
Santa got pulled over on the highway
Cops told him a light had gone on his sleigh
Santa said I'm in a rush
Cracked his whip shouted mush mush
The reindeers galloped off up and away...
QUEUE FOR THE LOO (FICTIONAL WRITE).
Have you noticed there is always a queue
Not outside the gents, only the girls loo
Business takes a minute
What do they do in it ?
They spend time gossiping that's what they do...
BILLY BLACKSMITH.
Billy the blacksmith was stoking his fire
The next horse up for shoeing was a shire
Then blacksmith Billy felt
A kick below the belt
Now high pitched is soprano in the choir...
INDUSTRIAL ACTION.
The reindeer decided to go on strike
Made demands that old Santa didn't like
He said it's Christmas eve
And I've soon got to leave
So he sacked them and rode off on his bike...
Written 19th November 2019.
Categories:
stoking, humor,
Form:
Limerick
Our hands and our feet were warmed from the cold,
while the campfire burned into embers and coal
The song that he whispered combined with the sparks,
and drifted away, to be lost in the dark
Splinters of light outlined his shape,
and hollowed the lines in his face.
With fingertips calloused, he strummed his guitar
into the solace of night.
We gathered to listen, and gathered our tears,
with smoke in our eyes and our hearts compromised.
The song told the fable of babes lost in the woods
who had wandered away on a bright amber day.
Where the robins of red, so gingerly spread
green strawberry leaves to cradle their graves
Crickets, like orphans awakened from rest,
lamented with sorrow from pine-needle nests
This legend was saved, but others were lost,
tossed to the wind, like ghost-feathers of ash.
My father is gone, but the song lingers on
remembered tonight, from a night in the past
The wind still unfolds the song to the night
whispering words that make robins cry
Drifting through the trees and taking me home
Still stoking the embers of a mid-summer's moon
________________________________________________________
Categories:
stoking, dad, nostalgia, song,
Form:
Free verse
What a slap in the face!
It’s an international disgrace!
(Descriptive distraction)
and (subversion in action)
It’s now commonly used in parlance by judiciary
while in literature this prevalent (lie) I see.
With a bland, enough face?
or is there the hint of a trace?
Could there be in its origin, a.. motive? or motion
created to infiltrate a nations notion?
A.. (sort of sufferance)
involved with its utterance!
So (abused & misused) is the category
I must zero in all my batteries,
Now I am clearing my decks,
here I go, what the heck!
For I have admiration for a Francophile
would converse with a Russophile
I so enjoy your work Faberge
and appreciate the charm of the Gallic sway
But for me there is no third way!
(now) without any doubt I am coming about
And stoking all my fires
for full ahead’s my desire.
On the literary beach
I see a very (rotten peach)!
And it was ‘hidden’ in full view
Hmm.. let’s see what some firepower can do
For the doting parents who pray
keep our kids safe today.
Hardworking moms & dads who care,
find time that is to spare
From extra help with early reading
to painting nursery room ceilings
Some working 14-hour days
it makes me angry I say.
Aunts & uncles, grandparent, teachers
of calm nature and reason
With motives pure and in step
with life’s seasons
And the name of the paedophile should by rights be theirs,
its been hijacked, does anyone care?
It’s too good a description, just not the depiction
to be bandied about, LISTEN
AS I SHOUT WITH TRUE INDIGNATION
CHANGE THIS DECEPTION OF NATIONS
© Joe Maverick 25-04-2011
Categories:
stoking, caregiving, literature,
Form:
Couplet
Flames of desire mesmerize
Instantly provocative to tantalize
Recklessly smoldering embers stirred
Enticing arousal... seduction occurs
Stoking the fire again and again
No strings attached is only plan
Both have reasons to turn away
Smoke exhausts all reasons one day
Forbidden sex arouses all senses
Ghost voyeurs char pretenses
Once guilt and shame are activated
Hardcore explosions... incinerated
No strings attached cannot persevere
Fire leaves ashes of all we hold dear
Written 5-3-2016
Categories:
stoking, betrayal, fantasy, fire, longing,
Form:
Sonnet
Reigning vitality you buoy on vigor of freedom
Hugging distant continents, caressing lively shores
Eternal since birth of time, ceaseless evermore,
Sensational, immense, omnipotent, abundant,
Enthusiastically you uplift glorious dawning sun
Greeting flamboyantly resplendent arc of horizon
Sprinkling golden glitter, propagating in unison,
Stoking aesthetic illusion into waves of passions,
Traversing civilizations from Atlantic to Pacific,
Rumbling leisurely, visiting tranquil beaches,
Hosting aquatics, exploring beauteous coral reefs,
Impulsive as can be, you are fierce, yet poetic,
Ferocious battlefield for the Navy, submarines,
Yet, fairyland luxurious, rocking passenger ships,
Sundown you reflect in aspirations romantic
Floating deep in womb, quixotic moon’s mystique;
Tides of your moods~ ebb and flow of emotions,
Boundlessly undulate, vainglorious true notion~
No force on earth can dare restrict your motion
For, you’re the magnificent, almighty blue oceans.
August 22, 2021
Placed 1st: Writing Prompt, Oceans, or Seas Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Constance La France
Categories:
stoking, ocean,
Form:
Personification
Thrills of ardent aster in Fall bloom,
whispers and lips in butterfly tease -
stoking hearth’s heat in surrendered swoon
harvesting lust.. with vanilla ease.
Susan Ashley
October 9, 2020
~ Second Place ~
Original poem “Beauty Of Day’s Harvest” - September 28, 2019
Premiere Contest: Rithimus Divisa 9
Sponsor: Gregory R Barden
Submitted for contest on October 9, 2020
Categories:
stoking, autumn, beauty, flower, imagery,
Form:
Rhyme
Between me and empty sheets
you've painted my colorless dream
you took me to places
to your heart's oasis
There I bathed, gowned only
with burnished autumn leaves
I could smell the rich oaky fire
that burnt in flames of desire
There I danced in my sleep
awaiting our spirits to soar in the breeze
On the left side of freedom
where I lay my weary head
next to the cool pillow
in the comfort of my bed
That's where I met you
on that restless Autumn night.
Stoking the glowing campfire
our spirits took flight
we soared over treetops
slow danced under the moon
sparkled amid the aurora borealis
on our whirlwind rendezvous
Categories:
stoking, dream, love,
Form:
Free verse
My need for love
is never sated
it's not dated
but continuously present
ever feeling
always reeling
from its demands
it gets out of hand
you can't possibly understand
My need for love...
My need for love
is longevity's flame...
I feel no shame
it's always the same
it sears
and never fears
but scorches and torches
any barrier
livid carrier
it roars
temperature tempter
it soars
flaring and daring
not even caring
that I burn
that I yearn
for more of its heat
to be complete
it blazes
endless kindling
stoking the fire
delirium and desire
together conspire
to take me up higher
till I combust
consumption on repeat
all in my trajectory
consumed history...
what a tragedy
for me
is this...insatiable entity
my need for love...
My need for love
is never quenched
temerity of thirst
always at its worst
It withers me
can't escape...can't be free
its depth demonstrated
its force contemplated
this love well never fills
though fed till it spills
offering liquid thrills
it kills...for in no time, you see
it feels empty to me
can it be?
my need for love...
My need for love
is insatiable
I weep, I weep
for no one can keep
a steady supply
and I wonder why
I sigh
I die
there's not one reply to
My need for love
My need for love...
well now that you know
cause I've put it on show
My love, are you able
to keep it all stable
supply and demand
with your lips, with your hand
be the fullfiller
liberate from this killer
satiation subscriber
desire docilizer
need nullifier of...
My need for love
Yes, my need for love
from sated to abated
fully consecrated will be
when you make love to me
Eileen Manassian
Categories:
stoking, how i feel, longing,
Form:
Dramatic Monologue
Ah, the exotic blend of new spice
and desires on the tip of the tongue,
love's seductive dawning does entice
cinnamon cravings wakened among
thrills of ardent aster in Fall bloom,
whispers and lips in butterfly tease
stoking hearth’s heat in surrendered swoon
harvesting lust with vanilla ease
on eve of Autumn leaves and passion.
Susan Ashley
September 28, 2019
Categories:
stoking, autumn, beautiful, day, lust,
Form:
Rhyme