Best Sundered Poems
I promise you,
you are not alone
in your feelings—
the hollow ache
where they should be,
I feel it too—severed—
sundered from the mold,
a lotus flower wilting
in the dark.
Let grace root itself
in the negligible cracks—
let your light spill into the
fractures—
creating something
new and worthy.
Categories:
sundered, beautiful, courage, creation, depression,
Form:
Free verse
Many now, the years have passed,
Since I found my heart at sea,
And never have I shared the tale
That I now will grant to Thee ...
We'd been a-sail for fifty weeks -
Chasing blues and fins and sperms,
Filling, fast, the holds with oil,
To head home on good terms.
When early on a Friday morn,
Loud calls came from the crow:
"Ahoy, now, hard to larboard -
'Tis a whaleboat thar below!"
At first it looked to be adrift,
With naught but oars and mast,
But when we pulled a-side her,
What we saw left crew aghast ...
Three men lay in those gunnels,
While alive, just bones and skin,
Burned by sun and brine alike,
Long beards upon each chin.
Almost a week of food and care,
Then two more weeks, at sail,
Before I sat their captain down
And pressed him for their tale.
He told me they'd been sundered
By a massive whale, pure white,
And thru his hair, a shock of gray,
Had turned that way from fright.
Most of his crew had perished -
Drowned or ravaged by the beast,
The mighty ship sent to its ruin,
A small whaleboat left, at least.
They were adrift too many days
To thus number, or even care,
Precious little to sustain them,
(His eyes then glazed to stare).
"We saved two kegs of water,
By the will of God's good grace,
But not so any food supplies,"
(A darkness crossed his face).
"So many days at sea," said I,
"Slim chance to stay alive ...
How in the name of heaven
Did you manage to survive?!?"
What he said then shook me,
And it aged me twenty years,
A monstrous secret, now I wish
Had never reached these ears ...
His horror dripped from trembling lips,
Black eyes sunk to the floor -
"We are three men", he whisp'rd soft ...
"Yet once we were ... but FOUR."
~ 1st Place ~ in the "Brian's Select 6, Any Form, Any Theme" Poetry Contest, Brian Strand, Judge & Sponsor.
Categories:
sundered, adventure, horror, mystery, myth,
Form:
Rhyme
Where the water washes white surfs across
Sand banks porous with green dreams in our hearts
Where the sun surveys the wet desert of loss
The salt thread like blood stitching together our parts
Find me there wandering the wailing shores
I am a new citizen with ancient desires still
Living on the restless rim of of crinkled azures;
Watching history bleach my memory of will.
Here I pine to see my mother whole as I am
Here I pray for justice from the impaled lamb
This Caribbean sea that pens my rage in me
Water where my ancestors footsteps no imprints leave
Of vast voyages now void on the Atlantic lea
This Caribbean sea in modern voice I cannot grieve
My people sundered like a broken ship
Mastless, anchorless, drifting drumless on weed
My people bleeding from tongue lash and whip
And no Cudjoe, Tacky, or Boukman to intercede
I am a citizen of the rim, a place undefined
In the subtle representations where I'm maligned.
Here in this world of diverse languages and shade
Across the bloodless salt of shrivelled water we trade.
Categories:
sundered, historypeople, sea, water, people,
Form:
Verse
Embers in the Wind and Threads
for Tomorrow.
In the rising fog of the New Year let burdens
take flight.
As failures lift like morning dew under the sun's
gentle touch.
Let them drift away carried by dreams dissolving
into the horizon.
Unbind societal shackles like chains rusted by time's
unforgiving passage.
Let freedom persist a song echoing
through the dawn.
Fly away barriers that sundered
our hearts and
Vanish into the night's celestial jete.
For in our togetherness
our strength restarts.
Like a melody each note harmonizing
with the next
Ashes of isolation where unity
finds its way.
We are a mosaic of dreams each piece interwoven
of unity's play.
Welcome joyous days with
wisdom’s spark.
Spin tales in a patchwork of
blended delight.
Let harmony imprint minds and souls.
Like an ember’s warmth on
a cold winter’s night.
Carry agape love a beacon through
the dark.
Let this year transcend mere time's
vibrant flow
A crown adorned with empathy's
multicolored light.
Societal, psychological, philosophical
in the know.
Unified we thrive, our unity ignites.
Threads of tomorrow woven in today's
greatest show.
Ultimately, each voice a tremor
in the wind can join the
rising choral tide.
Each note a battle fought
and won where shadows once did hide.
No longer solo in the dark but harmony
in vibrant throng
We rise a symphony of souls where
failures turn to song and singing:
May the Lord bless us with
His grace
And guide us through
each day.
May we seek His eternal
loving face
And follow His peaceful
righteous way.
May we find strength in
His word.
And comfort in
His soft embrace.
May our hearts be filled with
His love.
And our souls with
His unconditional grace.
May we walk in
His radiant light.
Shining His boundless
love for all.
Guided by grace our
hands and feet.
Answering His utmost highest and
loving call.
Categories:
sundered, god, happiness, january, jesus,
Form:
Rhyme
fewer …
stars there are
in the heart of heaven
than the myriad ripples of brine that
gently placed me here -
tender tongues of tide that tossed me
and polished my bark away
shaped me smooth from jagged -
turned from beast, to beauty …
courses ago -
I was loosed from a tree
and lost to the sevens in a gale -
sundered from all I’d known
yet …
my journey was ordered
as all things are
made divine not by substance
but by ministration
and singularity …
for the universe, entire,
holds no other creation like me
the countless moments
and patient, boundless energy
that my trek required
would never have been wasted
on the unremarkable …
and though one sojourn has ended
something awaits
that is more infinite, even
than waves …
OR suns …
possibility.
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden, August 12, 2023
( photo taken 8/1/23 by Gregory R Barden, Ferry Beach, Scarborough, ME )
Categories:
sundered, animal, hope, journey, metaphor,
Form:
Free verse
Braving storms, push and pull piercing my
Parched soul, while glazed in flaxen mists
Framing lingering dew drops
Consoling my warped core,
As I drift amidst
Sweeping mistrals
Calling me
To the
Blue
Glow
Of our
Ocean home,
Swaying to tides
Eclipsed by sundered
Coral sighs glistening
Upon glossed ripples bleeding
Devout love encompassing my
Frigid heart, seeking the warmth of you.
Categories:
sundered, feelings, love,
Form:
Nonet
And God said let there be light
And butterflies appeared
Sensuous as a moon
On a fragranted night
With jasmines in her hair.
And God said in the beginning was the word
And the cataract thundered
In a kaleidoscope of white
Wings like water sundered
Dancing on the belly of a stream
Rolling on the breast of the sea.
And God said let there be love
And moon came naked through the curtain
And poet sighed
Willing but still uncertain
Where she will go when day has come
And passions are mute as a stickless drum.
Categories:
sundered, imaginationgod, god,
Form:
Free verse
Soul
Breaking
Lies whispered,
Seeking escape,
Soaked in caged deceit;
Mimes mocking withering
Posies, left parched and sundered—
Suspended beneath obscured dusks,
Dripping amidst blinding aftermaths,
Idly shadowed by lewd scars of talons
Amidst alcoves of echoing nocturnes
Unshackled by your sweet afterglow,
Healing me with the elixir
Of our dawning horizons,
Strumming eurythmic tunes,
Suppressing starless
demons, betwixt
Soul-stirring
Destined
Love.
Categories:
sundered, angel, faith, feelings, hope,
Form:
Etheree
Ben and Cora Green had seven children, like calendar pages turning;
Each one born on a different weekday, like mango sun, forever burning.
Zoe was pretty, with big eyes and dimples, while Leah loved dancing,
Yet, Bill was sort of a pessimist; like when mystic trouble is glancing.
Edward had a zeal for jogging, while Ruth ran many errands for free.
James always had a part time job. Pete was all sunshine, very happy.
Fun barbecues attracted friends, to lawns of families and red flowers;
When fluff, sleepy clouds wandered, during deep green, golden hours.
Hues of fall leaves were fawning, when flying on crisp air, like family;
Visiting the days of fuming flora, of cool chrysanthemums, so pretty!
The Greens lived in a house of calendars, as mystic prisms flash color;
The life sundered into separate hues, like in gardens of blissful wonder.
Saffron sun shone on their street, as they smiled at people they'd meet;
When silver willows whispered surrender, to warm breezes, of no retreat.
Neighbors were a part of noon memoirs. Shadows were national heroes,
In ruddy times of heat and desperation! In the heyday of burgundy rose.
'Lady Leigh' irises sizzled in red, with the fruity beauty of 'pineapple lily,'
While insects snacked on 'goldfish' plants, beneath pink clouds, so frilly!
'Starfish' flowers had big highs and lows, in strawberry days of summer;
While 'Peruvian apple' cacti bloomed, on a single, dark night of slumber.
The Green children conveyed nostalgia for joyful childhood, into old age;
As colorful fall remembers summer just left, so flower strewn and sage!
Zoe grew up to be a model, while Leah became a famous ballet dancer.
Bill became a happier TV weatherman, for after rain, sun is the answer!
Edward later ran in marathons, and Ruth founded a charity organization.
James worked hard for conservation, as Pete, a clown, toured the nation.
Like the smiles that charm each seven day week, as a teal world waltzes;
Or like satiny peace of pearl moon charm, when the purple world pauses!
'Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
And the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.'
Categories:
sundered, birthday, children, family, fantasy,
Form:
Couplet
I'M a DEFENDER in the NAME of LOVE
Forlorn flavored winds speech of my love strokes
the welcoming distance of eastern dawn
where the somber colored night has withdrawn
and pearls of hope; glitter clear like yolks,
my fevered heart is bursting as I spoke
seeing immaculate hues I foregone--
unto blossoms swelling red I hold on,
while I await to resign slow my yoke.
Why are we torn when just lips start to kiss
and two sundered paths light one perfect bond?
In changeless clamor, will we surrender?
The purpose singing hard to gain, --- and missed.
To troubled waves, no desolate respond,
I'll be forever here, your defender.
________________________________________________
*** abba abba cde cde rhymes
6:10 pm, October 27, 2015
Categories:
sundered, care, love, relationship, strength,
Form:
Sonnet
THE RELUCTANT GUEST
Not proof against the pricks disdained
By the broad impact of petty phil-
Osophy, but sundered when our passions rained
Over our heads, when wish invaded will,
I am part neighbour in this shire of doubt,
That keeps me tenant on the promised crowd
Which you waggishly say will never rout
The insane longing to impact with loud
Music the harmony of sense. Yet I fear
The submerged faculty of my wavering power
Is grief to you, a crutch for every tear,
That springs between us, to endower
Your raving optimist’s cry that you’re a help,
To such as me, a miserable poor whelp.
Categories:
sundered, allegory, angst, anxiety, bereavement,
Form:
Sonnet
Deathless Aches, Heart's Desires
Thoughts of Heart are as mystical ships that traverse
Ranging amidst the restless ocean ways,
Their crimson prows surging through the sunrise,
Their golden sails adream in evening haze.
Thoughts of broken spirit wander sadly
Unfriendly waters; raging, storm-shattered they roam;
Sea-reft their beauty, moaning all their music,
No haven dares to call them home.
Far sundered are their soundings, far diverging
Magic winds that sing their course,
For some may find the Hesperides, but others,
Those far, sad and dark islands of Remorse.
There they may safely harbor, dark as hell's morn
Awaiting in that cradle, where deathless aches are born!
Robert J. Lindley, 10-13-2015
Note- Non-traditional sonnet, archaic messaging.
*****************************************
(A) "adream"--Webster's Third New International Dictionary
adream adjective
Etymology: a- (I) + dream, v.
dreaming
old people motionless and adream
- See more at: http://findwords.info/term/adream#sthash.UnF3w8ZI.dpuf
(B) "reft" ---A past tense and a past participle of reave.
reave
rev/
verbarchaic
carry out raids in order to plunder.
rob (a person or place) of something by force.
"reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast"
steal (something).
source- https://encrypted.google.com/#q=reave+definition
(C) "sundered"--sun·der
's?nd?r/
verbliterary
past tense: sundered; past participle: sundered
split apart.
"the crunch of bone when it is sundered"
synonyms: divide, split, cleave, separate, rend, sever, rive
"his father and he were sundered by religious differences"
(D) Hesperides--Definition of HESPERIDES. 1. : a legendary garden at the western extremity of the world producing golden apples. 2. : the nymphs in classical mythology who guard with the aid of a dragon a garden in which golden apples grow.
Hesperides | Definition of Hesperides by Merriam-Webster
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/HesperidesMerriam-Webster
Categories:
sundered, art, creation, heart, mythology,
Form:
Sonnet
Your bombs and canons come late far too late now to put together your sundered arms
no use crying robber in Kashmir when the poor hunger for a bowl of dusty gruel
nor stretch your mighty legs over the Palk Straits to proclaim your integral faith
Wake! India! Wake!
There are no borders to the staunchly raised in unbending respect and unrelenting loyalty
there is no need for police-ed borders for those who are tied to you by blood
there’re only stretches of unfathomable water so much un-scaleable mountainous frights
Wake! Asia! Wake!
And draw your sons and daughters about you they who inherit your fate
tell them not when they may act or how just let them gather around you
with time if you wake up in time they’ll hoist you to Himalayan heights
Wake! Now! Asia! Wake! Before It’s Too Late!
© T.Wignesan 1996/2001
(Written between April 7th and 20th, 1996; revised February 2001 and published in The Asianists’ Asia, Vol. II, March 2001, and in T. Wignesan. Rama and Ravana at the Altar of Hanuman. Chennai : Institute of Asian Studies, 2006.
[from the “original version” in the collection: longhand notes (a binding of poems), 1999]
Categories:
sundered, inspirational, time,
Form:
Dramatic Monologue
These are the ashes of what's left of our fire...
What to expect when electricity meets water;
Though our love has sundered, bittersweet polaroids and toffee greeting cards endure.
... When a house is lost to flames, one surviving photo is worth a thousand carats
And so I go with these memories that come ripe again to soul and bone,
A bounteous pension for the things we lost in the fire...
A bed of roses and a chest of knives.
When a bough rustles a ballad but no one to sing to
She soon sheds like tears;
There is nothing anywhere but nakedness and wretch and sure days of barrenness...
No elastic smile, only guttering cheeks.
16/02/18
Copyright © All Rights Reserved
Categories:
sundered, break up, heartbreak, lost
Form:
Free verse
I feel Him chip away at my flesh.
The vibrations shake to my bones.
Pieces that were once part of me now fall helplessly to the floor.
Every scrape of the chisel,
Every pound of the hammer,
Every piece that is broken from me stings with immense pain.
Why doesn't He stop?
Why is The Sculptor so cruel?
Doesn't He realize that each swing He takes is a nightmare to me?
I would be better off as stone that was never touched,
I would be more content without the suffering that comes apon me,
But I wouldn't be a work of art.
Each chip of the chisel is intended to remove a piece that shouldn't be there.
Each pound of the hammer is meant to force the hideous fragments far from me.
Each move The Sculptor makes, takes me closer to His plan for me.
I must trust, knowing that He never takes off too much.
I must be ready, knowing that He never leaves His work incomplete.
I must be thankful, knowing that I am being made beautiful in His eyes.
The acute pain is only a short part of His plan.
The lasting anguish fades in its own time.
Though heart, and soul, and body all grieve, the permanent state will be that of finished work.
I may not know the reason for each strike,
I may not know the fault with each sundered chunk,
And I may never know.
I know the sting of the chisel now,
I know The Sculptor has a plan,
My part is to trust that He will not work forever ... but that He will be done.
Categories:
sundered, christian, depression, faith, god,
Form:
Free verse