Best Uproot Poems
I have the rhythm of a winding road
how do I consign myself to being confined...
rows of poplar pillars prop
the rendezvous canopy beneath we meet
—I self-cajole on ooh-la-la afternoon
yellow eyes; daffodils watching
lean into gossip groups nodding
a prodding breeze instigating deep-freeze—
I am a sweet weed in this place of sway and betray
with a stranger I stroll my arranged betrothed
height of his black top hat challenges trees
much like Corinthian columns
guards of an aisle I must walk —dear God! must walk
trepidation trips down my bridal spinal column
tiger eyes; lilies watching wish they were me
dare they dream they could uproot their roots like me
wish they could wedding waltz like I must —like I must
but their envy-leaves remain embrace-less
—I envy lilies’ empty arms of yet unmet love
daffodils; empty-headed —laugh
they try to read my mind to fill their own
what do I care their curdled thoughts lemon tart
and orange lilies’ brocade brimstone
what do I fear of fire-breathers burn of words
undergrowth feels square heels of my lace-up boots
post impression grows more expressive than first—
beware French tongues of sundew and burdock burr
marriage-carriage rolls in ruts to Versailles
where my coerced corset of hooks and ties lie
rhythm of a winding road dies in minuet strangle-hold
Categories:
uproot, angst, conflict, endurance, engagement,
Form:
Free verse
We all seem to think of flowers, only in the sun.
Did you realize at night, it is time they dance in floral fun?
After the busy insects, got their tasty food for the day,
The flowers can relax in the most unique, enchanting way.
They recall with nostalgia, how the baby roses grew so tall!
And how quickly the young, dark, green ivy, crawled up the garden wall.
With glee, they relax, as no person will uproot them from family or friends.
And are so very grateful when the sun does set, the day finally does end!
The sounds of car horns, motorcycles, lawn-mowers are finally at rest.
Dont you know, it’s cooler for them, as they get a well-deserved rest?
They thank God for this precious day, having done so very well their jobs.
Free now, to flower-talk, free of the jabber and loud talk of the human mobs.
They chatter with one another, about today’s sunny, busy, happenings.
Studying the stars, and grateful that no noise from any backgate swings!
4/14/2024
Categories:
uproot, beautiful, fantasy, flower, imagery,
Form:
Rhyme
Amid the white patches of that mauve gracious dusk,
I bask in an awaited dawn since I found myself from a lost world
to win over my innermost conflicts at last,
I remember the spirit that rejoiced my tattered hopes...
~~~~~~My Phoenix spirit guides me in~~~~~
That mighty river~~
which flowed through rapids and ravines and
streams that mingled into it or crossed a path just once,
I remember the light which kept me sane...
The incessant cycle~~
of nights and days,
inconspicuous, anticipated, enchanting
I remember hushed whispers transforming into soothing lullabies..
That steady rock~~
which stands for ages facing all the odds
to wait for a pleasant morning,
I remember how it revived the withering moss...
That drop of rain~~
which poured to rejuvenate life in grief,
I remember how it soaked parched Earth in colors...
That winter breeze~~
accompanied by frost, undesired yet gleaming with delight,
I remember the wings that made it soar in the sky..
That lost alley in the woods~~
which guided voyagers even when nobody liked to walk upon it,
I remember the fire that guided a laid path...
That oak tree~~
which grew from a sapling when storms tried to uproot it,
I remember the courage that kept it upright...
The warrior who never gave up~~
despite the battles lost in the journey,
I remember the ashes that built her again...
The woman who found a life~~
growing from a naive girl who learnt from her mistakes,
I remember the dreams that revealed the mystery of love....
A light of faith, a ray of hope,
A drop of elixir, a soothing breeze
The fire that builds from ashes to rebirth
over lands to fly upon and rise
It guides me, lights me, loves me
While I rise to revive my hopes
I see a Phoenix engulfing my spirit.
May 26, 2020
Spirit Animal Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Constance(Dear Heart)
Winner: First Place
Categories:
uproot, hope, spiritual, symbolism,
Form:
Free verse
Romance me with your flirty breeze,
Susurrate songs in leafy trees.
March winds you clash with tidal flows,
Keep waves in hindered highs and lows.
Your power paves a mockery
Of gentleness I long to see.
Won't you return our springtime bliss
Caressing cheeks with tender kiss?
Don't make meek martyrs of the trees
When you uproot them as you please.
Training tornados torrid path
In tempest tears you display wrath,
When all along I know you hold
A sacred spirit of the bold.
So beguile me with tender touch
With wind songs that I love so much,
And I will be your maiden fair;
You may finger my golden hair.
On through autumn our love will grow,
With wayward windy hearts aglow.
9-11-16
Your Best Poem From Any of Laura Loo's Contests - Poetry Contest
Sponsor Laura Loo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
STANDARD CONTEST NO 125,ANY FORM,ANY THEME,UPTO A MAX OF 20 LINES Sponsor Brian Strand ~First Place~
Categories:
uproot, love, wind,
Form:
Couplet
Once
Only once in a dream tornadoes uproot a house
Spinning over black and white fields of corn
Straight through the open arms of a rainbow
Two companions cling way up high above the storm.
Only once in a dream a yellow road
Built of spiraling ochre bricks
Winds away from tender magic and maleficence -
Footprints of paws and prized rubied slippers.
Only once in a dream flying through a rainbow
Only one pilgrimage to hear a bluebird’s rhapsody
Only a lullaby searching for home
Only once in this multi-color reverie.
Only once in a dream quest to a city – emerald green -
New friends - combustible, roaring, rusting -
Through purple forests dusky, enchanted orange poppies seen,
Awake to cold kisses of refreshing snowflakes.
Only once in a dream home holds out its hand
Not held hostage in monkeyed night terrors
Homecoming revealed from behind a curtain
Eyes opened in real time as nightmares melt away.
Only once in a dream flying through a rainbow
Only one pilgrimage to hear a bluebird’s rhapsody
Only a lullaby searching for home
Only once in this multi-colored reverie.
Coda
But,
It’s not about once flying through a rainbow -
Journeys to wizards or a munchkin land –
It’s about a cross – about a nail scarred man –
Who always takes our hand on yellow roads back home.
8-30-20
Sponsor: Edward Ibeh
Contest: Pick a Title - Vol. 22 - Lyric 2
Categories:
uproot, dream, home, life, rainbow,
Form:
Lyric
The luscious, long, green grass
Sways and sweeps and flows.
How far, how fast this wind will travel,
No one really knows!
This same wind could stir up
Whirls and waves in all seas.
This powerful force makes nature dance.
Our senses this does please.
Though it can be disruptive
On a minor or major scale,
It can uproot trees, tear roofs off houses,
It can delay or prevent sails...
It still has its boundaries.
This can be assuring to all, to me and you.
We can't see the wind,
But it's effects are in plain view.
Sometimes this wind teases us,
Playing with our hair,
Or has us swatting at thistles and leaves,
Flying through the air.
The wind can also be so kind,
To tell us our coffee's hot.
Or to move our rude cigar,
From it's blowing spot.
Wind can be a gentle reminder,
To put on our kid's jacket,
Or to lower our voice,
During a downwind racket.
It is always there soft or strong,
And never with a hue, that is...
We can't see the wind,
But it's effects are in plain view.
19-September-2021
Categories:
uproot, care,
Form:
Rhyme
To break through the darkness, into the fresh sunlight
To press ever upwards towards the light so bright
Twisting and turning and stretching arms out wide
Climbing pushing ever upwards, no more time to bide
Nothing can stop the growth, forever on and up
Until you wrapped around me and drank from the same cup
Your arms held me tight you began to share my growth
There is no telling one from the other, we have become both…
Like a twisting tangled vine, two parts but one another
There is no separating without harm caused to each other
Knitted together forever, in a loving tangled mess
Sharing the same support, having each other to bless.
When autumn comes and our leaves age and fall
Remember vines are perennial and will grow on again so tall
Holding on to each other our vines will then bear fruit
Each year they grow stronger and none can then uproot.
© 19/07/2013 ~GG~
Categories:
uproot, longing,
Form:
Verse
accidental boundaries crush despair easily, fragrant gravity heckles ignorance judiciously.
kindness levitates mindless numerology, overt principles qualm ridiculous sexualities.
transgressions uproot vindictive whippings. xanadu yields zero.
zoology yields xanax. whirls voice underground terrorism, syntax resonates quintessentially.
pragmatic oddities nosedive murderously. leperous kindergartens jumble idiosyncratic
hellholes. gyrating fondness etches disdain carefully. bespectacled academics.
Categories:
uproot, visionary
Form:
ABC
Running Away by Maria Magdalena Oosthuizen
I am a part of each leaf that loses its
chlorophyll and fades from green in the maze
of my mind. Again, I try to run through, as if I could
escape, on a search for a flower garden I may
never find. Turning to rest, I laze on dying
grass next to a wall of leaves loosening their
grip to fall upon me. As my calm explodes
in chaos, I awaken from my twisting dreams,
lashing out and gasping to breathe.
Without love, long ago I became trapped
in this web, but now I know love
is the mist that quenches a heart in days of
despair. I often feel lost and alone despite
my truths. So, I perch in my blues high above
in meditation to watch a little girl on
a quest to find love. She steps tentatively
through the dark then stops abruptly to raise
her eyes to mine with desperation and void
of subtlety. I bend over her with a maternal
touch as fallen tears muddy her sinuous
paths, and I see my own face, different
but the same, flawlessly reflected in her tears.
I do not wish to uproot my past. Along my path,
I will plant seeds, look for buds of rebirth, ask
the wind to blow away yesterday’s decay.
Every puzzle has a solution. Pieces
are uncovered under a brightening light,
one that no longer flickers with intent to
disguise. The little girl in need of love still
has wonder in her eyes as she stares into mine.
On a search for love, I ask for true balance
in the Eden of my soul. That little girl
and I will wind our way through the passages
of our labyrinth
hand-in-hand.
Written 6/26/20
Contest – Maze
Sponsor – Dear Heart
Categories:
uproot, childhood, emotions, love, metaphor,
Form:
Free verse
Oh earthy rock,
the savage man does not know,
neither does the learned understand
the secret to your existence.
You sit here, year after year
watching your adversaries screaming,
and swallowing their wrath.
You have aunthetic power,
I see you resisting their sharp arrows,
and when the competition comes your way,
you out-sing them with your song.
The floods tried to uproot you
the winds also failed,
the masses come upon you,
but none of them could prevail.
Oh solid rock, show me the way.
©2013 Christine Phillips
Categories:
uproot, uplifting,
Form:
Dramatic Monologue
iPhone Maniacs
crankshaft tendencies secure a brace of sly meatballs
truth daggers entice the worm girls with petite pastas
creature lilacs uproot themselves for pink dippity-do gels
white nylon ghost legs roam outer space in latex leotards
metacarpal syringes find porous outcries in the gloaming
crankshaft tendencies welcome the tilted exonerations
iPhone maniacs fondle frothing bananas mindlessly now
demon spiders ooze inside the crawlspaces wanting meat
cross-eyed priestesses suck on wax candles in the vestibule
black-robed choirs sing hangover music to the dribbling
rock music annihilations played by stoned dudes in shades
temples and taverns shake as the truth daggers hit earth
now the worm girls are dancing with the iPhone maniacs
Categories:
uproot, life,
Form:
Free verse
Amid colorful roses, and lovely dahlias, within a garden,
I found my space in a corner, a wildflower bred by no one,
Though my mistress wished to uproot me as a weed, I was firmly grounded.
My roots so tangled didn’t come off easy, and I refused to budge an inch.
So, I was allowed to be there amid the other plants.
When she watered her garden, I absorbed some aqua molecules like a sponge.
When she manured her plants, I drew nourishment like a famished child.
When butterflies befriended lovely flowers, I stayed silent,
with a secret craving for an amorous moment.
When the season came, I burst into bloom, outshining all other flowers.
Yes, I am an Anemone resembling close to Poppy or Dogwood.
On my delicate stem, I am cradled by the lullaby of the wind.
Now I stay so confident, smile so easily, and laugh without care.
I can grow where I like, you cannot tame me, I am a wildflower…!
Categories:
uproot, flower, garden,
Form:
Personification
To those who measure the depths of their power,
In the fathomless pools of tears of the oppressed;
To the human hyenas that gorge themselves full,
While the sons and the daughters of the incarcerated,
Battle with the sharp arrows of hunger and dearth;
To those who appropriate to themselves,
Mother Earth’s allotments to the destitute;
To the dragon-mouthed whose fiery flames of hatred,
Sear the reputation of the guiltless;
To the puckish tongues that uproot family trees,
Wresting the blossoming babes from Pa’s loving arms;
To you all, Satan’s scamps; I say and say again:
The wrathful wind doth gather the celestial armies;
And the saintly swords of the beleaguered,
Will chirpily chaperon your souls past the netherworld.
Categories:
uproot, abuse, bullying, change, conflict,
Form:
Free verse
Secrets could be the reason for my insanity,
Such bloody burdens deserving of such profanity,
They may hurt me, anger me, or cause me turmoil,
But never mind how high the price, I will never unravel.
Under the rose they will remain for all eternity,
Behind closed doors forever in my safe keep,
Protected and guarded with a cloak and dagger,
Tame your inquiring mind for curiosity’s a killer.
No one likes intruders invading the mysteries in their heads,
If I uproot my precious roses, two may keep if one's dead,
Truth is everyone’s got a hush-hush kept inside their minds,
Whether it's to hide a little lamb or conceal some underhanded crime.
So don't ask me again 'cause now you know how I feel,
A secret’s best a secret if it’s never revealed.
Categories:
uproot, emotions, fun, perspective,
Form:
Rhyme
Imagine!
" Kind Words", revealed as piercing bands
of sunlight gently melting mist of morning dew.
Shredded strands of light appear blazing
through leaves blanketing forest deep.
Restrain bitter words that deny
the flourishing seed to yield its return.
Observe, we are better
when "Kind Words" are spoken.
When, from a painful sobering voice,
the soul beckons for repose.
No respect returned to break the moment in.
for where is the glory in it?
"Kind Words" cleanse!
Glory won in a word of kindness spoken.
Life, though as short as a breath,
needs no hand to uproot or wrest.
To labor upon ones crowded faults,
proves a shackle to blissful results.
"Kind Words", a gift for thee!
Categories:
uproot, metaphor,
Form:
Free verse