Best Upturned Poems
I write
you into
my upturned world,
gift you wings and transformation,
strewing pixie dust through silenced skies,
aching to see you sparkle and soar,
like an eagle-winged fairy
metamorphosed
into the highest ether,
where peace is more
than a poetic phrase,
and love ~
baptized by the blues of butterfly ink,
no longer a prisoner of pain ~
caged by chaos,
as the world never knew
the burden buried beneath
your blissful smile, and lyrical laughter…..
Tonight
I miss you,
when the haze above untouched seas
bleeds nothingness,
I remember us,
when the music of grieving night
fills my life
in captivating cadence,
and I will forever
write to the swirling stars
to sigh our serene song
when the telepathic moon wanes in weariness,
for even the sky knows
we are more than
just a memoir
pressed between
purple pages of
perfumed
truth…
A Song at Sunrise
He sang the song at sunrise, to the morning dawn
It rose into the atmosphere and carried on and on
It fell in gentle rain upon the barren lands
It moistened upturned faces and was caught in outstretched hands
It blew within warm winds across the marshy fen
Was whispered through the waving reeds and reached the hearts of men
This song is never ending all around the earth
The song that started long ago with our sweet Saviour's birth
POULTER'S MEASURE that is in alternating 12 then 14 syllables lines and so on
(the form always commences with a 12 syllable line)
Courtesy of Brian Strand
Margaret Foster: 18th February 2010
She sat beside the waterfall
where gushing thoughts cascade,
like tears that flowed along her cheeks,
her heart set to invade.
He left alone for pastures new.
A scribbled note in haste
he wrote then fled, as cowards do,
her heart a barren waste.
A lightning bolt out of the blue
that pierced her heart; she bled.
Much later on the ache still hurt;
her feeble wings unspread.
She dared not heed the tumbling sound
as water crashed on rocks.
How fit to let death end the pain!
She started down the walk.
But just before the water’s edge
a voice called out, “Be Ware!
The road you walk is treacherous;
for God’s sake, stand right there!”
He turned her round, and saw her face
spill tears upon her gown.
He whispered in her windswept hair
“One misstep and you’ll drown.”
“Please, let me go, you do not know
what burns here in my breast.
I need to douse these flames and find
my sweet eternal rest.”
She struggled then against his arms,
the longed for end so near,
and yet he held with all his might,
spoke words to still her fear.
And when all limp she leaned on him,
this man she did not know,
he soothed her as he said these words:
“I will not let you go.”
Drained of resolve she let him lead
from rock to lush verdure,
as reassurance kindled trust,
his hand was firm, secure.
They sat beneath a shady tree.
Engrossed, they talked at length,
and in the process she revealed
his presence gave her strength.
He held her hands, looked in her eyes,
his heart worn on his sleeve
as they agreed to meet again
before she had to leave.
She touched his face, with gentle grace,
leaned in to kiss his cheek;
her lips just trembled there a while
enough to make him weak.
“You’ve saved my life, and now I owe
the greatest debt to you.
When next we meet, after we greet,
I’ll give you what’s your due.”
He smiled into her upturned eyes
and said these simple words:
“I’ve been repaid with sweetest kiss
my heart and soul you’ve stirred.
We’ll meet again, and when we do
you will forget the past
for then, my dear, I’ll make a vow
of love that’s sure to last.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
(Paul Callus & Eileen Manassian ~ Sept 2019)
(A Callman Collaboration)
Winter Fantasy
I love to walk through twilight
In mountain hills
Breathlessly awaiting evening’s first
Flakes of snow in a winter carnival
That rowdy gathering clouds
Threatened to toss upon their upturned faces
And,
When at last, making merry, the storm releases
A snowy vision descending on a dreaming world
A lullaby of sweet calm
Transcends sleepless visions like twirling snowflakes
To fill nocturnal eyes
With visions of barren aspen arms
Embracing shivering jewels of glittering snow.
Between wind whipped flakes
I see
The warm and cozy lights of homes
Resting in the trees
To cast a revelry of amber shadows
On the pure whiteness
Of a crystalline blanket falling from the sky;
They hide their eyes
Among the spruce
As love
But
With inviting looks
Beckon me abide
As I pull my hands into warm sanctuary pockets
To walk upon the gala of snow serene.
In a carnival of swirling flakes of snow
My footsteps
Quickly
Lose their warmth –
Now
Hidden by
My brumaled friends
As the evening sky
Slowly turns
Her dark side inside out
From
Turquoise to blue
To white.
And when the storm finishes
Emptying
The clouds
As feather pillows opened wide
The moon slow pulls herself
Above these hills in festival
To ride a winter sky
Watching over the silver
Shimmering earth
Alive with twinkling moonbeam stars
On outstretched limbs
Of aspen trees –
They twinkle in a jubilee – bright reflections
Of a sister in the sky.
The air turns colder –
Cutting right to the very marrow core
With sharp and brittle winter bite
When the mountains
Glimmer cold as moonlight –
Blue as stars –
As
They stand above the valley
Wearing alpine ermine furs
Sentinels of the day
Now past –
Guardians of tomorrow
And
Though they change their winter masks
For summer’s green masquerade
Their faces never change –
I would know them always!
1-1-21
Contest: Winter
Sponsor: Emile Pinet
Oh, summer sun, all winter I have missed
your stale hot breath upon my upturned face;
your tongue that seers my flesh as I unlace
the strings on my bikini. I am kissed
by sultry lips that burn. I can’t resist!
I bask in light of day, and I embrace
Your penetrating rays that find each space
of skin exposed. I wait and plan my tryst.
And when you come, I’ll reverence you once more,
supine, as you would have me, to receive
your torrid touch as token of your lust.
In June we’ll meet as always by the lake shore.
I should not go. So well you can deceive.
Some lovers you have killed! Yet still I trust. . .
for Brian Strand's Your Choice,Any Form,Any Theme Poetry Contest
Rain Dancer
Days and nights of hibernation
within the clapboard walls,
winter winds have eased
and only the sound of rain peals
upon the storm glass panes.
The desire to go out, to run, to scream
is strong, yet, on the rain taps a tarantella.
The parting soil unbound from icy grasp
permits the spear of crocus and of daffodil
and though the rain drones
an accompaniment with the clock
sleep does not come.
Knots of lassitude untwine
as child-like upon the open porch I stand
reaching upturned palm into the falling rain
watching as it strokes the waking ground.
Cleansed are we all by sky and rain and wind
rain on, bless the ground, let Spring begin.
I'm a
Swedish beauty
Born in
poverty
With eyes
so green
And cheek bones
so high
You wonder
at the structure
Of DNA gone by
My hair is silk
running through
the breeze
And
If you touch it
your fingers wil
slip through it
My skin is tan
with freckles
woven in
and my smile
is white
with straight teeth
to look apon
at moons delight
and my body is
purely a sight
with small beasts
upturned and
inviting
saying please
look apon me
you will be enlightened
a tastely morsel
created by a
heavenly light
and hips curved
just oh so right
You'll need a road map
for your hands to drive
the feeling of being with
a sensation so powerful
how can you walk by
oh.... my baby you will
not leave my side
because my
Swedish beauty
will hold you
forever to your side
come to me baby
I'll be your guide
showing you
just what I like
Back at you baby. Dedicated to Ezell Dazh.
Calvin Harris "This is what you came for" video with Rhianna
And "How deep is your love" video.
The whisper of dawn calls my name
gliding like a softly-bathed air: tangy
and afloat with a spice of mint
in christened pools lithely buoyant.
A path of upturned twigs rip free
to sail along bobs of peppered dew;
dewy in a way new sunrise adorns
pastel fingers where wings of ray
become intricate as it is daring ; calling
forth, 'Daughter of Light'..."Light's Daughter"
till the fragrance of earth winds
huffs upon morn's sweet delicacy ,
bearing my mythical seal upon gracious earth.
1.16.2017
POTD
What's In A Name Contest
Sponsor: Silent One
I am the tide a ceaseless tide
drifting afar from sheltered shores
From solaced paths of wide-spread sands
where all my waters have become yours
I am the tide a ceaseless tide
rising up high beyond the line
Burnt orange line where half moon rests
between hushed ocean and twilight sky
I am the tide a ceaseless tide
anchored in thoughts with no return
I 'll keep on rolling keep getting distant
from blissful moments which we once shared.
I'll keep escaping a thousand butterflies
that swiftly flutter in rocky caves
I'll keep remembering smiles on lost laugh- lines
where sea-spumes kissed your upturned face
I am the tide a ceaseless tide
You are the sandman who walks out late
I watched you standing by the blue light-house
drawing two hearts without a name
I saw you gazing into the distance
I wondered if you're setting sails...
to a horizon without an hourglass
where your arms sink in my embrace
I had three daughters and I loved them all.
And they knew I had the biggest soft spot
For Felicity, the middle one. Her grace followed
Everywhere and everyone in the village knew.
Her golden yellow tress, her fluttering eyebrows,
Her small upturned nose enhanced the small sweet lips.
And she was always laughing, affecting everyone.
She found a job in a children's paediatric hospital.
Children were her love and she would attend to them
As often as time permitted, leaving her to laugh,
Echoing in the corridors, by far a favourite of all.
One thing she never missed. The service was on Sunday.
In the end, by permission, she would sing her hymn.
Many came to hear her angelic mellifluous voice.
She always chose "Amazing Grace". Soft notes that came from the heart
And rising to a crescendo. No one was allowed to clap.
Her final words were always the same.
You come to adore God. Praise His Holy Name.
Salem
_________________________________________
Unrest of spirit churns behind thy door,
the sin interned therein is quarrelsome
No "witch" that thou hast burned serves to restore
the pitch that has upturned thy moral plumb
Forego thy demons, none would be found here
Such guile belies the pleasure of the young
Until thy trials should rise of fact, not fear,
so will thy measure see the pious hung
_________________________________________
Date: 11/14/2018
Sponsor: Julia Ward
contest: Unrest of Spirit
Dark chocolate eyes bore into me,
Beseeching, brimming, tunneling for truth.
A single tear trails silently
Cascading o’er lifted cheekbones so
Perfectly angled they’re matchless
Throughout nature’s beauty scheme.
Exquisite, ethereal amber skin is
Glistened by a single path tracking south
Till brushed tentatively aside and away
With a deliciously delicate crook’d index finger.
Adjusting focus with a bow, her upturned glance
Begs understanding, explanation.
Crimson lips, lavish in their trembling,
Part in silent query, “Why”?
Two years ten days no joy could compete.
Renowned in circles select, discreet,
Our couple bid the daily world depart.
Sealing curtains leaked primal sun bright-strewn
‘cross comely sheets, fantasy games oft fulfilled.
No doubt the future shined, out there.
Sparkling horizons, her urgent beckoning.
Glacial azure eyes avert at this sight
Of flawless beauty marred by an unrequited
Inky threshold placed anew across
The spectrum of her charted dream.
Cooling cooing stills her tears momentarily,
Hypocrite rising fresh, predicted.
Hope extended but a moment more,
Remembered embraces reenacted
Pacifying heart-ripping avalanches
Sure to embalm, feigning calm,
Endless love promised, bestowed,
Bloomed, embezzled,
Freshly bamboozled...still,
By her guileful paramour.
~~~~~~~~~ (the goodbye lie)
a small old woman
94
sat in the field
in the most sturdy chair
face upturned
to fireworks
and she said over and over to her son's wife
"in all my life i never saw that before"
again and again
the colors exploded
into stars and galaxies of different sparks
and her tiny face turned up in wonder
"i've never seen anything so beautiful before"
and there you could see
her face as a girl
her life to come
her love ahead
and all the beautiful things she'd never seen before
and turning
I could see again
the same in her granddaughter's eyes.
A slice of glistening ice
mirrors sky.
Enchantedly I trace it
with my eyes.
Periwinkle winks
from a butterfly’s wings
as he flits among
blue daisies’
upturned faces.
Merging with mauve,
sapphire breathes
sublimity to my soul.
Stars begin to dance
on its canvas.
Jan. 7, 2019 for the Blue Poetry Contest of Craig Cornish
My weeping eyes behold the changing sky
O'erspread with clouds of grey where once was blue
With gaze upturned, I heave a burdened sigh
At all the world now changed to leaden hue
Yet still they onward, ever onward fly
And more appear to change the sky anew
And now, as troubled hearts their sorrows spill
These maudlin clouds the heavy rain distill
The sun obscured in shame, he hides his face
And lightning lights instead the cheerless gloom
While thunder follows swift in furious chase
As if to herald thoughts of coming doom
And still, the rain descends at hurried pace
As if the earth in water to entomb
It seems belike this storm would rage for aye
And all the earth would never chance to dry
But lo! The setting sun that once was veiled!
Draws nigh to show his grandeur forth below
He shines his beams abroad the clouds to gild
And sparks the drops as diamonds all aglow
Mid pools of sapphire blue the sky is filled
With vibrant coloured shades of heaven's bow
What eye could see and not revive its fire?
Nor mind behold and not its thoughts inspire?