Best Stringless Poems
POETS
Seems we be a restless,
often rootless, band
we poets.
Annuals
bursting forth
in fullness
only to fade,
blown away
on fickle winds.
Stringless kites
anchored
in the ethereal.
Voices adrift
on the mind’s
muse.
Tumbleweeds
in torment
pursued
by the winds
of our future.
©2/18/2018
submitted to – CONTEST NO 400
sponsor – Brian Strand
Categories:
stringless, poets, writing,
Form:
Free verse
where the seagull dies
stringless origami cries
loneliness of soul
koi fish suffocate
colors fade in Bonsai trees
island in distress
words not understood
shadows grin tricks on rice walls
tsunamis in eyes
geisha of the world
love is lost in illusions
freedom is her dream
men with cold fingers
whither blossom of her spring
harakiri end
in the seagull's grave
origami secrets kept
chicks learn how to fly
www.scripca.com
Categories:
stringless, life, nostalgia, sad, social
Form:
Haiku
within my mind like stringless mimes
reside the voices of discontent
discussing in their troubled tones
the conundrum of implied intent
“I’ll say this”, and “he’ll say that”
“she’ll do thus”, and “I’ll do so”
no invites to cerebral tea
for conversations of “me with me”
for all the puppets in my head
dance to tunes I choose to play
none have the voice to boldly say
“move on, you dwell in yesterday”
©6/18/2018
for Ventriloquist Poetry Contest/Anthony Slausen
Categories:
stringless, humor, voice,
Form:
Rhyme
To love with a smile is real skill,
that in you I do most admire,
I see devotion your face fill,
and your eyes shine with love’s fire!
warmth of love is like furnace lit,
that hums and glows to cheer the heart,
glow that comes from you I admit,
shines bright from your heart’s sweetest part!
your love does shine without embers,
much said without a spoken word,
like an ink less pen writing verse,
from a stringless chord music heard!
gentle touch, a few words of love,
conveys all that our heart desires,
to love with a smile is real skill,
that in you I do most admire!
6th place win
Written 15/04/2021
Shine poetry competition
Constance La France sponsored
8 lines each line
4 quatrains with alternate line rhyme
Categories:
stringless, blessing, cute love, devotion,
Form:
Rhyme
In her layette, she looked fair.
‘Nimisha’, the parents called her.
When aged five, the polio plucked
the strings that her legs moved.
As a stringless violin, her legs rest.
In the wheelchair, she grows up
along with her mother’s tension,
and father’s anxiety.
The rustic children wish her
but nobody takes her
to the festival
in a shrine rural.
She wears new dress
but as the butterflies in her frock,
she also cannot flit
to the shrine yard.
Cough waves, today also,
shake her lungs so.
The distant drumbeats and the holy music
move her fingers in the wind rhythmic.
The clarion does resonate and ripple
the divine thoughts in her ears.
She never knew
pneumonia packing her soul.
Serenity of the twilight collapses
as, again, the drum storm develops.
Few knew Nimisha swooned.
Later, the people intoned,
“Being holy,
an apt day it is.”
In emptiness infinite,
her parents knew her truly.
Categories:
stringless, death, loss, parents,
Form:
Free verse
The small antique shop beckons to me as if calling my name
I hurry to enter with great anticipation
The chime above the door provides an eerie greeting
The store is aglow with articles of times past
I pass from aisle to aisle my eyes darting from relic to relic
I see high top shoes with white laces
I see brushes and combs with pearl handles
I see pictures in boxes of families in fine clothes
I see a doll in the corner eyes staring blankly ahead
I see worn dresses on racks with lace collars and bows
My journey through time continues as I move on in haste
I see a stringless violin in a black scuffed up case
I see silverware with fine bone handles
I see pocket watches with long golden chains
I see hundreds of tiny bottles that once held fine fragrances
I see scratched phonograph records strewn hither and yon
I see fine tools of the trade in hand crafted cases
I see rows of fine china all hand painted with care
I see a faded picture of a child with long golden hair
Suddenly I pause as my mind starts to reflect
Everything before me shelters a story of long ago
They are not useless items that I view but the relics of lives past
Each article once the personal possession of a living breathing soul
With a new respect for the articles before me I move on
Ghostly images of faces now accompany each piece that I see
If I purchase just one it must be displayed with the utmost dignity
For its original owner will have bestowed its care to me
I leave the shop with my new treasure all neatly wrapped
The chime above the door signals my departure
The stale aroma of the shop is replaced by the cool evening air
Life, as fragile as the tiny piece of crystal that I carry, goes on
Copyright 2007 Charlie Gragg
Categories:
stringless, life, nostalgia, places, me,
Form:
Free verse
A Bikol Poem Written by Melton Balicano
Malayug an wara pisi na gulandrina
Para hulugan kita pampadulom na liwanag.
Sa mga gab-i na ini masiyak an pugol na ina,
mahagad tawad an pabaya na ama,
nan maluhod an mahambog na batit
sa malangsahon na duta.
Sa mga gab-i na ini,
buang na an diyos.
(A Translation of an Excerpt from Melton Balicano's Poem, Translated by Glenn L. Sentes)
A stringless kite will soar
to cast upon us darkness of light
In these nights an oppressed mother will scream,
A father remiss will seek pardon,
And the arrogant child will kneel on putrid earth.
In these nights,
god has gone insane.
Categories:
stringless, confusion,
Form:
Verse
i wish i may i wish i might
kiss upon a star tonight
meet a girl who does it right
feel super with no kryptonite
healthy like a vegemite
she gets me hi i hit the heights
no violations to my rights
flying like a stringless kite
return because shes outta sight
rerun for that nick at night
cut the chase we laugh and bite
i catch her when i hit the lights
spin her like a metaknight
dreamland so we better fight
making truth my appetite
sting lingers from my latest flight
empty opposite of tight
like swallowed sticks of dynomite
ride or die that is my type
no going back once started like
the silly way typewriters write
hearts and minds will reunite
my heart once made of hematite
stays broken like some urbanite
wonder if i heard her right
hard to hear well worded lies
when no nerve and nervous might
postpone the light for certain sides
service sized assurance glides
soft to land no meteorites
loving till the end despite
leaving me dry with wounded pride
Categories:
stringless, dream, emotions, heartbroken, how
Form:
Rhyme
New Year
Dreams lie unfulfilled in my rueful nights,
the seconds, minutes, hours and days all draw
empty boxes, lists inked on paper white,
promises of plans I made, stout hearted,
in ignorance of the years gone before
when youth's resolve lay stillborn, unstarted.
With new old resolutions, stringless kites
fly out in fanfare on each New year's day,
'till deaf to all applause they fade from sight
to jink and ride the winds of circumstance.
'Just like last year', the well meaning friends say
knowing full well that none stood any chance.
Dreams lie unfulfilled in my rueful nights,
with new old resolutions, stringless kites.
For contest 'Cornish Sonnet', sponsored by, coincidentally, Craig Cornish
December 20th 2015
Categories:
stringless, new year,
Form:
Sonnet
Once we were in the mother's lap,
We used to smile our legs up.
The mother used to treat us kissing our feet,
The lap's of our mom was the best playground.
Sometimes we used to cry,
Our mother would pat on our back with her cold hands.
We used to watch mother's face repeatedly,
We used to be absolutely overjoyed.
When the alphabet used to come out of her mouth,
It had seemed like a stringless garland.
She taught us how to weave images of the dreams,
I wish I could become a great poet only for her.
Categories:
stringless, baby, beautiful, beauty, dance,
Form:
Free verse
Heaven knows why you wish to hear anger and misdirected blame
tossed toward you on the ether by unknown souls, what a shame ..
You are misguided, mistaken, a mischievous little maudlin imp
to encourage such bad behavior, and to have us not skimp.
Hornet nest poker, naughty miss, you'd withhold a frog's first kiss
Listen young lady, no good comes of bad reminisces
so, curb control issues, chart your own course, hand on the rudder,
I see you there now, through my third eye, so, don't think to sputter.
Silly, silly, woman, a whirlwind you wanted and now you fret,
you just remember, never forget, you're a real girl poppet.
Stringless poppet with that cute little nose, so engrossed in prosey
write to me from alphabet soup, spin me a fairy tale rosy.
Divine are the curls 'pon your head and your sparkling green-blue eyes
and that heart of gold ..well..you're loved and it's no real surprise
for you sprinkle stardust on our lids at midnight, spinning sweet dreams.
Blessed was the day you were born to this earth, smiles on moonbeams.
Demur as a pink rose, soft as a kitten, we're smitten,
addicted, transfixed, are all by the proseys you've written.
Words, though sublime, can never truly tell of your glory,
only Shakespeare and Wordsworth could do right by your story.
Categories:
stringless, friendship, me, , cute,
Form:
Rhyme
Since the first bomb blast in my town,
I began talking to winds in strange languages.
Since bayonets had been replaced by rapist-soldiers,
I started building tin-nests on tall branches.
Since bullets became drunk with madness of
Trigger happy men in uniform, I have exiled
My death to another place where love only
Does the killing, where I could die sweetly,
With no feelings of hatred or revenge.
And to bring me back to the land of hypocrites,
Mothers denuded themselves in the market-place,
In broad daylight, and a sister of mine fasted for years,
Only to be discarded as a torn flag after electoral mandates.
Since my kid brother disappeared, without reasons
Or questions,
I keep looking at mirrors, searching for his face which Blurred away in cliched identity cards of a nation,
Where my vers libre floats in void spaces,
Like a stringless kite.
Categories:
stringless, child abuse, chocolate, christian,
Form:
A cold hard rain soaks the tree
denudes its flailing branches
stamps a season's exclamation point
on the edge of approaching frost.
Leafs flutter - stringless kites adrift
floating on a mindless wind
whistling through shivering steeples
mocking the silence of dormant church bells.
Wet feathered sparrows taunt the wind
cling to the hope of trembling limbs
gentle strength against the fury
acquiescence without surrender.
Darkness falls on a raging gale
shrieking in its emptiness
seeking an unknown destination.
A cold hard rain soaks the tree.
John G. Lawless
11/30/2020
Categories:
stringless, november, rain, seasons, wind,
Form:
Verse
Haiku 2/2/2018
attuned to itself
reveling in dustdreams
a stringless violin
John G. Lawless
©2/2/2018
Categories:
stringless, introspection, silence,
Form:
Haiku
More than anyone else
you complete me
patched the breach in the circle
showed me the mental math
of the angles of life
know what I'm thinking
before I'm ready to think
When the heart jumps
I know you're close by
my up and down friend
when you're gone,
I'm a stringless harp
fingered by a lonely vagabond.
Dear self...please come back to me.
Categories:
stringless, identity,
Form:
Free verse